tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63486404314708723392024-03-04T21:58:53.040-08:00Our Little HouseOur Little House -
A place where we grow as a family ...vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.comBlogger76125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-71730611096645298272020-08-17T11:54:00.003-07:002020-08-17T11:54:54.364-07:00Baby Countdown - 38 Weeks<p>This week was such a whirlwind of emotion. It started off really well - some nights I was able to get better sleeps than last week. On the weekend, we were able to go out and explore as well. But then after my scheduled regular 38 weeks appointment it turned out the entire vibe 180 degrees.</p><p>Starting with the good part of the week first. Since my sister is coming to the US to support me, I was hoping we can take her to visit some places before the confinement and new baby lockdown period starts. On the weekend we went to two different outdoor shopping areas nearby where we lived. Initially we wanted to try dining outside for Ippudo Ramen, but we learned too late that we had to make a reservation ahead of time through yelp (which actually make a lot of sense as they have limited outdoor seating). Thankfully, that area was full of other dining options so we ended up choosing a Thai place which has good Pad Thai and Tom Yum Goong. </p><p>After that we wanted to go somewhere else, since going out right now means you have to follow full "sanitizing" regiment once you get home anyways, and the day was still young. My sis mentioned how she wanted to go visit Stanford University since on her last visit she liked that place very much. We weren't sure if the University is open for visit but since there is an outdoor mall close-by we decided to just try. Worse come to worse, we can just head to the outdoor mall after. Turns out it was open and there were some "tourist" as well as locals visiting. It wasn't crowded at all though and everybody was wearing mask so we still feel very safe. We managed to snag some good pictures (my sis even took a couple "pregnancy" shots for us). Then we went to the outdoor mall as planned, did some shopping and had Pinkberry froyo before heading home. It was a great day.</p><p>The next place high on both my sis and I list of places to visit before baby was the beach. This was proven to be very challenging since my husband prefers not to travel far in case my labor starts on the way. But an opportunity came up as my husband was asked to pick up his work stuff from his office who is not too far from a local beach in the area. So off we went ... in addition to strolling at the beach for a good 30 mins, we were able to grab yummy lobster rolls from a popular restaurant there. One of my pregnancy cravings was satisfied.</p><p>The next day, we went to my regular pregnancy check up appointment. Due to COVID, I have to come alone to the appointment, but for the past few appointments my hubby and daughter usually came and waited in the car, today was no different. Since my hospital is close to downtown Mountain View, we planned to dine outdoor or pick up to go food for dinner after the afternoon appointment. </p><p>I was actually pretty nervous about the appointment since I knew the doctor would perform another pelvic check. I was also curious about what she would say in terms of the state of the baby (position) and pelvic dilation (if any). Surprise surprise, she said my pelvic is very soft (not sure what this means but maybe pretty effaced?) and it was 1 cm dilated. 1 cm dilated could means I can be in labor in a couple of days or week. But she touched my feet and check my tummy and right before she left the room she teased me - "I'll think you'll deliver the baby soon - it can be after dinner, midnight, or tomorrow." I froze because I was so not ready! It just felt very sudden!</p><p>On the appointment we also talked about how hospital / health care provider now wants pregnant women to just schedule induction as soon as they reach 39 weeks. I asked my doctor when we suggested that if it was due to mine or my baby's specific health condition, but she said this is just the general drill due to COVID. They think waiting for another week or two would increase the risk of the mom to contract COVID. She asked me if I had a date in mind, and again - my mind went blank because I really was not ready for labor. I told her then I want to wait until we pass the due date and decide then. Instead of getting induced early, I'm hoping for the labor to naturally start on its own. </p><p>So clearly I had a lot to think about after the appointment - also so many different emotions. After the check it was a bit painful for me to walk so we ended up buying food to go and dine at home. That night I could hardly sleep thinking about what the doctor said - she can come anytime! I told the baby to give me another weekend (so we can stock up for food etc)... but day after day since the appointment I kinda feel the pain gradually increasing when walking. It's getting very uncomfortable for me to sit for a long period of time - the same with standing and walking :( I also started experiencing a couple on and off contractions. At the end of my 38 weeks, I think I was actually anxious for the baby to come soon! </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-5434091746119132452020-08-10T10:15:00.000-07:002020-08-10T10:15:00.657-07:00Building Baby Registry for Second BabyAs I'm expecting our second baby soon, I would like to share some learnings from my experience specifically on building a registry for baby #2. I will go in depth and share things that work for us based on our experience, preference, and budget while it is not the "ultimate" or "must haves". For me this is also another chance to get some items that truly would make my life with the newborn a little bit easier (again based on my first experience). At the end of the post, I put a summary for the "essentials" of Sprinkle registry. Hopefully this list can also help you in anyway, whether you are a first time mom or experienced moms.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmuY39BMhNMNhWMU3rVBIe6I0YyTwSD99zK80MMoujC9LP1y3CcWUDD8II2aBCMcyXh2apEQ3SupULHHn-HRL01WQDf6JGWzNNOxjIJkk5yscB6PijzQIbjlmW0q00bx0KmuZEkO4xlI/s940/WhatsApp+Image+2020-08-10+at+9.54.44+AM+%25281%2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="940" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimmuY39BMhNMNhWMU3rVBIe6I0YyTwSD99zK80MMoujC9LP1y3CcWUDD8II2aBCMcyXh2apEQ3SupULHHn-HRL01WQDf6JGWzNNOxjIJkk5yscB6PijzQIbjlmW0q00bx0KmuZEkO4xlI/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2020-08-10+at+9.54.44+AM+%25281%2529.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div>First of all, come the question of should we even have a registry for baby #2? The answer is clear YES! Some considerations here:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I have some hand me downs from our first kid that we can still reuse. However, one thing to note here is to consider the age gap between the two (last) babies. For us, the age gap between Grace and her baby sister is 4 years. This is important because some items might have a safety recommended age (like car seat for example), so we might need to repurchase.</li><li>Disposable items! No matter what you will still need to purchase diapers, diaper rash cream, wipes, toiletries, etc.</li><li>Completion discount. Being honest I totally forgot about this crucial piece of information. But then once I realized I need to purchase some disposable baby item anyway, I created a registry with Amazon and noticed how they offer 15% completion discount - which definitely will come handy!</li><li>Free Baby Boxes - this is just the cherry on top for me. A couple retailers do offer free baby boxes and usually one of the requirement is to setup a registry in their website. I might do another post just to share what I got from each of these free baby boxes later :)</li></ul>Moving on to the fun stuff - so what did I include in my 2nd Baby Registry? I'll break this down based on the different categories below. Please beware that this is a loooooong post :). Or as mentioned earlier, you can skip to the bottom of the post to see the list of items that I considered as "essential" for 2nd Baby Registry.</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Baby Gear</h3><div>As mentioned above, some items are better to purchase new due to safety rather than reusing. Personally, I also have a better idea of what I like and need this second time around. A couple items that I registered for from this category:</div><h4 style="text-align: left;">1. Infant Car Seat</h4><div>Due to safety considerations, we used Orbitz Baby G2 for Grace. In general, I don't have a lot of complaints about it just that it is on the "heavier" side. I made the first time parent mistake of just reading reviews and taking recommendations from trusted friends but did not really consider our own circumstances. I'm on the petite side (a little less than 5 ft tall) so towing this infant car sear around especially in the first few weeks after the baby was born was a pure torture. </div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately (or fortunately for my case =P) Grace's carseat was manufactured back in 2014 and from my research the cut off time that is recommended is 6 years. So we decided to purchase a new car seat for baby #2, and with the weight requirement in mind, we chose the <a href="https://www.nordstrom.com/s/nuna-pipa-lite-lx-infant-car-seat-base-nordstrom-exclusive-color/4780836?origin=keywordsearch-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FAll%20Results&color=threaded%20-%20nordstrom%20exclusive">Nuna Pipa Lite LX</a>.</div><div><h4>2. Stroller</h4></div><div>Most parent usually will purchase a double stroller. For us, Grace is not fond of sitting in her stroller so we skipped the double stroller. We did end up purchasing a new stroller for the baby though. For Grace I used two different brands of stroller and infant car seat, so I had to use an adapter. One thing that I learned, using an adapter sometimes can be a hassle ... especially if your stroller is too tall for your body frame and your infant carseat is heavy! Due to that, this time we wanted to purchase infant car seat and stroller from similar brand and therefore we went with the <a href="https://www.nordstrom.com/s/nuna-2019-mixx-stroller/5328951?origin=keywordsearch-personalizedsort&breadcrumb=Home%2FAll%20Results&color=granite">Nuna Mixx </a>stroller. Also, we registered for this <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KLO5F78?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I33CUI0OWO8A1P&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">Ethan & Allen stroller organization</a> from Amazon since from past experience it has been very useful (the strap on our old one was broken so we need a replacement). </div><div><h4>3. Baby Carrier</h4></div><div>We purchased Ergo 360 for Grace so we'll definitely reuse that, but I was given a Baby K-tan wrap for newborn stage and sadly it didn't really work for me. I feel the material was not stretchy enough. I saw that a lot of people recommended <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boba-Baby-Wrap-Carrier-Grey/dp/B005SP2LWW/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=1B8CWOOXPI35&dchild=1&keywords=boba+wrap+baby+carrier&qid=1596747599&sprefix=boba+wra%2Caps%2C198&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyTlQzTFI4NzVYN0g4JmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjM0NzQ0MlgwTDNDTDAwTE9ZWiZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzI2MjE1MjROWEcyQzVHM1kyUSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=">Boba wrap</a>, so I'm thinking of trying that out for this time. </div><div><h4>4. Swing & Bouncers</h4></div><div>We purchased the fisher price bouncer (which unfortunately had stopped working right now) for Grace. She was just okay with it - we had some use out of it but not a ton. That's why this time I want to try something new. I ended up purchasing a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MQM7W6M?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=IXLE9HDB4KRO&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">swing</a> - also from fisher price - since I got a really good deal for it by utilizing Amazon's completion discount. </div><div><br /></div><div>Other items that are usually included in this category are <b>Playards</b> and <b>Baby Gyms</b> but we have Grace's old Graco <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Graco-Portable-Playpen-Bassinet-Ashford/dp/B00Y8SJFIS/ref=sr_1_39?dchild=1&keywords=graco+playard&qid=1596748270&sr=8-39">pack n' play</a> and Skiphop's Baby Gym (her old style is not available anymore but <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Skip-Hop-Farmstand-Grow-Activity/dp/B07DFT5YDH/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=skip+hop+baby+gym&qid=1596748346&sr=8-4">this one</a> is cute) so we will be reusing those. </div><div><h3>Nursery Items</h3></div><div><h4>1. Crib & Nursery Beds</h4></div><div>We are skipping crib since we love Grace's Babyletto Hudson Crib and it still in an almost pristine condition (Grace has been sleeping in our bed, unfortunately, for the past 4 years). However, I do noticed there are plenty of options for newborn pillows or loungers in the market right now, and so intrigued to at least try one of them. I've heard good stuff about the dock-a-tot even back in 2016, but the price point is still too high for me for a stuff that can be used for a couple months. So instead I'm trying this <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Boppy-Original-Newborn-Lounger-Hello/dp/B073WVQZGL/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3KI5C0F26FSUI&dchild=1&keywords=boppy+lounger&qid=1596750708&sprefix=boppy%2Caps%2C200&sr=8-3">Boppy Lounger</a>.</div><div><h4>2. Mattresses</h4></div><div>Similar with the crib, we're skipping mattress since Grace's old mattress is still in pristine condition.</div><div><h4>3. Bedding</h4></div><div>I'm purchasing additional crib sheets since Grace only has 3 of those and she drew a nice cartoon doodle on one of them :). My favorite crib sheets comes from Pottery Barn (look how cute <a href="https://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/demi-crib-fitted-sheet/?pkey=ccrib-sheets&isx=0.0.2112">this</a> pattern is!). I just love the materials so much (organic cotton!) - although I would say the price point is on the higher side. This time we're also purchasing a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GN21K81?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I1NTBG8K8KO1JR&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">crib rail cover protector</a>, since I still clearly remember the horror when I found out that Grace has been chewing on her crib railing and might have eaten some of the paint.</div><div><h4>4. Changing Table & Pads</h4></div><div>For Grace I bought a dresser (in the same set with her Babyletto Hudson Crib) and it comes with a detached "changing top". I believe buying a dresser is more cost efficient than buying a specific changing table. For the pads, I disliked the popular option of buying the white Munchkin pad with different types of cloth coverings. So back then, we ended up purchasing the "peanut" <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Keekaroo-Peanut-Changer-Grey-Size/dp/B017UJ5MYM/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?ie=UTF8&aaxitk=nWKjC6s23mn4kVfubU7bPg&hsa_cr_id=6069958360601&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_mcd_asin_0">KeeKaRoo</a> changing pad which I really loved because it was so easy to clean. But since I originally did not plan to have another baby, I sold the Keekaroo pad already :( I still keep another large waterproof changing pad that my mom bought from Indonesia so I plan to just use that this time around.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other item that is included in this category is Glider and Rocking Chair. I had the standard Ikea rocking chair last time for Grace and did not really use it, so this time I'm also skipping these items. </div><div><h3>Feeding</h3></div><div>Last time with Grace, I did both direct BF and pumping. So for this category, I repurchased a warmer & sterilizers, pacifiers, breast pump, feeding pillows, and bibs and burp cloths. For bottle feeding necessity, I only purchased the new nipples and planned to reuse Grace's old Dr Brown glass bottles. I also received some new bottles from the free welcome baby boxes. I'm skipping high chairs, booster seats, and other solid feeding needs since I believe I should have most of it already.</div><h4>1. Warmer & Sterilizers</h4><div>We used Dr Brown sterilizer and Boon warmer last time and were unsatisfied with both products. I'm trying to find a sterilizer that can also "dry" the bottles this time. We are trying a new technology that is also highly popular back home in Indonesia recently - UV sterilizer. Our choice is this one from a brand called <a href="https://upanguvsterilizer.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=158">Upang</a>. As a side bonus, it comes in very pretty pink color that matches with my Kitchen Aid! *lol*</div><div><br /></div><div>For bottle warmer, our problem with the Boon warmer was the size. With Grace we ended up using MAM bottles, and there were a couple instances when the bottle leaked when we warmed it up using the Boon warmer. Not sure if this was because the space in the warmer was too tight. We saw that <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LJ64JR4?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I3A3O7I3V7FQIP&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">Avent bottle warmer</a> has tons of good review on Amazon, so that's what we're trying this time. </div><div><h4>2. Pacifiers & Teethers</h4></div><div>For hygiene reason, we repurchased a couple new pacifiers for the 2nd baby. My first choice is Grace's favorite <a href="https://www.amazon.com/MAM-Pacifiers-Pacifier-Breastfed-Collection/dp/B00DYOQNKU/ref=sr_1_3?crid=17AA5A2QRIOIA&dchild=1&keywords=mam+pacifiers+0-6&qid=1596755436&sprefix=MAM%2Caps%2C236&sr=8-3">MAM pacifiers</a>, but knowing how every baby is different we also got a couple different ones - like this one from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076QNJTSW?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I3EC5VYIA0J2TP&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">Phillip Avent</a>. Similarly we also repurchased paci clips - the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LGJC21H?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I4AAIT4IJ8NX2&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">silicon type</a> one and the normal cloth ones <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GFKQTQ2?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I1440NEZN2CRNL&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">here</a>. I'm skipping teethers for now but have been eyeing this <a href="https://louloulollipop.com/collections/silicone-teethers/products/ebi-silicone-teether-single">one</a> from LouLou Lollipop (they also have very cute swaddles!).</div><div><h4>3. Feeding Pillows</h4></div><div>I still own the Boppy pillow that I used with Grace, but sadly it didn't work for me. This time I'm adding another item that was suggested to me by a coworker 4 years ago from a brand called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/My-Brest-Friend-Original-Fireworks/dp/B003TSDMH8/ref=sr_1_6?crid=14ZD7KV65G0SL&dchild=1&keywords=my+brest+friend+nursing+pillow&qid=1596756328&sprefix=my+bres%2Caps%2C192&sr=8-6">My Brest Friend</a>. She said due to the design, it is much easier to hold the newborn baby steady using this pillow. I've heard good reviews on YouTube as well about this pillow, so very excited to try it out.</div><div><h4>4. Bibs & Burp Cloths</h4></div><div>Despite my initial belief of <b>not</b> needing to purchase a lot of stuffs (especially clothing related for 2nd baby), I found out that bibs and burp cloths are a bit different. For context, Grace had a really bad silent reflux as a baby so I threw away most of her bibs and burp cloths because those were stained really badly (and smelled funny as well no matter how many times I washed it). I ended up purchasing a couple new ones from Amazon to add to the small number of bibs and burp cloths that I can still reuse. I'm trying the bandana bibs style - there are so many options on Amazon but somehow I just like the patterns of this <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D2C1P46?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I3AGBX486T31D&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link&th=1">one</a>. For burp cloths, I heard good things about Burt Bees' burp cloth but this is the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0784QZG54?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I2UHTR83VL9OKU&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">one</a> we ended up purchasing.</div><div><h4>4. Breast Pump</h4></div><div>I used the Byram Healthcare website to get my insurance covered breast pump (I picked the Medela Pump in Style) but still purchasing another breast pump out of pocket since I've had difficulty pumping last time and might need a "stronger" pump. My choice fell on this super popular <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spectra-Baby-USA-Rechargeable-Electric/dp/B00DBKFFJM/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=spectra+S1&qid=1596757981&s=baby-products&sr=1-4">Spectra S1</a> pump. I've been hearing raving reviews about this pump since it's as strong as a medical grade pump but without having the cost of one.</div><div><h3>Diapering</h3></div><div>Besides stocking up for diapers and wipes, some items that I repurchased from this category were diaper creams and diaper bags. I plan to reuse my old Ubbi <b>diaper pail</b> (which doesn't need a special trash bag btw in case you're in the market of one) and have a bunch of <b>portable changing mats</b> that I used for Grace,</div><div><h4>1. Diapers</h4></div><div>I only used two kind of diapers for Grace before she turned 2 years old: Honest and Pampers swaddlers. Honest works wonder - she rarely had any diaper rash if she's using them. Not the same story with pampers swaddlers although I love the fact that they have the wetness indicator line. So this time I'm also stocking up on some Honest diapers - I purchased a few box of Newborn diapers, size 1 as well as size 2.</div><h4>2. Wipes</h4><div>The same with diapers, I only used Honest and Pampers Sensitive (or Pure) for Grace so also buying similar brands for this second time. I did purchased a couple pack of Water Wipes out of curiosity though, since a lot of people swore by it.</div><div><h4>3. Diaper Creams</h4></div><div>Grace only used Desitin but this time I also purchased a pack of Bodreaux Butt Paste ointment just to try it out.</div><div><h4>4. Diaper Bags</h4></div><div>This is more like a "splurge" (nice to have) purchase for me since we don't really need an additional diaper bag. I outgrew the cute pattern/design of my old Jujube's diaper bag and really want something that's more minimalistic in design. After looking around, I chose <a href="https://www.skiphop.com/skiphop-diaper-bags/V_200603.html">Skiphop's Greenwich Bag</a> in the portobello color. I really like the design and look of the bag but unfortunately it doesn't have as many compartment inside as I wish it would.</div><div><h3>Bath Time</h3></div><div>I only purchased the "disposable" type of items in this category initially (<b>soap, cleansers, and lotion</b>), but ended up buying a couple of <b>new towels</b> as well. Despite being a huge fans of honest diapers and wipes, we have different experience with their bath soap and shampoo. Somehow Grace was allergic to those! What have been working for her instead are Cetaphil lotion and soap, Babyganics, and Mustela. I particularly likes Mustella's fragrance so for baby #2 that's what I'm stocking up for. For baby towels, I like how cute Target's <a href="https://www.target.com/p/baby-elephant-hooded-towel-cloud-island-8482-gray-one-size/-/A-53338962">cloud island hooded towels</a> are so I got two of those!</div><div><br /></div><div>Another item that I considered as essential in this category is wash cloths. I really like these <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0716VLNJ4?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I265HJADVFP4L6&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">washcloths</a> with bamboo materials from Amazon.</div><div><h3>Health and Safety</h3></div><div>I skipped most of items on this category (Baby Monitors, Baby Gates, Nail Clippers, Electrical Safety Items) but repurchased an aspirator (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fridababy-NoseFrida-Aspirator-Hygiene-Filters/dp/B00RP0GHBO/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=ET8S0IYOPK56&dchild=1&keywords=nose+frida+baby&qid=1596762538&sprefix=nose+fri%2Caps%2C227&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUExVkVWTEgwVUxRQTBJJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMjkxMTEwMjRLNVc4RkRKUE41VSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMjM0NzE0MUczQVVBUTY1U0tUSCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=">Nose Frida</a>!) and a new <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013IJPTFK?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=ISK2KR8S3N4AE&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">humidifier</a> for Grace's room (since the baby will be rooming in with us). We also purchased a new non-contact forehead thermometer to not disturb the baby when she's sleeping.</div><div><h3>Clothing</h3></div><div>In a similar manner with some clothing items mentioned in the earlier categories, I also found myself repurchasing a couple items because Grace's hand me downs were not in a good shape.</div><div><h4>1. Swaddles</h4></div><div>Grace practically lived in her swaddles for at least her first one year. I used to swaddle her around the clock but as she was getting bigger, mostly we only used the swaddle for longer night time sleep. Grace was a really good sleeper btw, she started sleeping through the night as early as 5 weeks old. The type of swaddles we used in her newborn stage vs later were different. For newborn we liked Aden & Anais muslin swaddles and then for later stage - Halo sleep sacks. Those are still in moderately good condition but I'm adding a couple new muslin ones for baby #2. I also purchased the different types of swaddles (again since different baby might have different preference) - these velcro ones from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/SwaddleMe-Original-Swaddle-3-PK-Coral/dp/B01LQAZ09I/ref=sr_1_16?crid=2V543QHM2RR8A&dchild=1&keywords=velcro+swaddle+0-3+months&qid=1596763539&s=baby-products&sprefix=velcro+swa%2Cbaby-products%2C197&sr=1-16">SwaddleMe</a> and a l<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005MAU21A?colid=1FWI92DVU9HIR&coliid=I4UUAJVBXOVQP&ref=br_ADD_TO_CART_title_link">ove to dream</a> swaddle. I'm super curious with the later since Grace was like a houdini as a baby and in a couple minutes after we swaddled her she always managed to release both her hands from it.</div><h4>2. Socks and Mittens</h4><div>She has plenty of socks and mittens hand me downs from big sister Grace, but based on past experience the only one type that works with Grace are these from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/goumimitts-Scratch-Scratches-Prevents-Enchanted/dp/B076YCYQ6B/ref=sr_1_5?crid=3DP2JVX5X1E8L&dchild=1&keywords=goumikids+mittens&qid=1596827313&s=baby-products&sprefix=goumikids%2Cbaby-products%2C184&sr=1-5">Goumikids</a>. The only downside was the price point - but I saw that there are some dupes in the market nowadays.</div><div><h4>3. Hats</h4></div><div>I only have a couple newborn hats for Grace so this time I'm in the market to purchase some more. I ended up choosing <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07ZLY1H5T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1">this one</a> - I haven't opened the package and washed it, but it does seem to be a tad too big for newborn stage. Not sure if it will shrink a bit after first wash. Included in this section / category for me is baby headband. Again, not a necessity just good to have items since I plan to take newborn pictures of the baby. I purchased <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SZQ8PYS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1">this one</a> from Amazon recently and pretty happy with the materials - would definitely recommend. </div><div><h4>4. Bodysuits and Sleepwear</h4></div><div>I added a couple more NB or 0-3 months items since I threw away some of Grace's old ones. I have a couple considerations when purchasing NB clothing items. First of all, I care a lot about the material. H&M newborn range comes with very soft materials which I adore and some of them even made from organic cottons. I'm also particular about onesies with side openings and with build in mittens. I still remember how fragile a newborn baby feels and pushing onesies through their neck had never been a favorite activity for me. For sleepers or pajamas, I only want the zip up type :) You don't want to add another hassle of buttoning or unbuttoning pajamas when you have to wake up several time in the middle of the night for diaper changes - trust me!</div><h3 style="text-align: left;">Summary</h3><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9JBE6oSDDbJy3UX3rpf6o4mOKmJfh_ye7v8nvx2b4NXg0dAnN01ca8xVHIXAvP89hYcekk63VHMQd_iymqOupIkJP6Mll__GN8bA35SYW0TNRV-BtPw_hRoNpPM-KDU0X3S4LfhC90k/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2020-08-10+at+9.54.44+AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1236" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9JBE6oSDDbJy3UX3rpf6o4mOKmJfh_ye7v8nvx2b4NXg0dAnN01ca8xVHIXAvP89hYcekk63VHMQd_iymqOupIkJP6Mll__GN8bA35SYW0TNRV-BtPw_hRoNpPM-KDU0X3S4LfhC90k/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2020-08-10+at+9.54.44+AM.jpeg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>To sum up this very long posts ... if I have to recommend items for building a basic baby registry for second baby, here are a couple essentials items:</div><div><br /></div><div>1. Diapering and Bath time: Toiletries, Diapers, Wipes, etc. You also might want to get one or two new hooded towels and washcloths.</div><div>2. Clothing: Some to replaced highly used items (which might have been soiled) such as burp cloths, bib, onesies.</div><div>3. Feeding: New nipples for the bottles and pacifiers at the minimum. Personally I would also recommend some new bottles especially since bottles are heavily used items and the cost of replacing them is not that big.</div><div>4. Baby Gear: Many parents recommended double stroller, second baby monitor, second humidifiers, and also wearable baby carrier. As mentioned above, some items (like crib and infant car seat) come with recommended safety date. Check if you need to replace your old ones.</div><div>5. If you're planning to breast feed or pump - also stock up on some "disposables": breast milk storage bags, nipple cream, soothing breast gel pads, and nursing pads. I would also recommend buying additional pump parts - especially if you plan to use Medela breast pump. There was one time when one of the membrane was torn and I wasn't able to use my pump before I purchased a replacement.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thanks for reading this very long post. I hope you found it fun and helpful just as I feel whenever I'm watching similar YouTube videos or blog post!</div><div><br /></div><div><3</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-43276936233585724382020-08-03T17:09:00.000-07:002020-08-03T17:09:01.626-07:00Baby Countdown - 37 WeeksI saw some people on YouTube vlog their "baby watch" video and I thought it was such a fun idea. So I thought I will start to document these (hopefully) few peaceful weeks before our bundle of joy arrives.<br />
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This week I am 37 weeks and counting ... physically I don't feel a lot of difference except when baby is hiccuping or moving sometimes it feels very close to my pelvis area like she's about to burst. On my last appointment at 36 weeks, through the internal check as well as ultrasound, the doctor confirmed that baby was already head down locked in position facing to the back. However, everything (I guessed she meant my mucus plug) is still intact.<br />
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I did feel the baby is dropping - I'm not running out of breath as much as the past few weeks, I feel so much pressure on my pelvis area especially when my stomach is contracting (this happens randomly throughout the day but pretty consistently after dinner everyday) and sometimes when she moves I feel my bladder is getting squeezed - which is not a pleasant sensation at all :(<br />
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Psychologically - I still feel like I'm not 100% prepared for the baby. There are a couple to-dos that we need to wrap up. This week especially, I'm focusing my efforts on sanitizing bottles and pumping parts, as well as planning for my postpartum meal. I want to observe the Chinese tradition of postpartum confinement (zuo yue zi <span style="background-color: white; color: #313131; font-family: ABeeZee, sans-serif; font-size: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #313131; font-family: ABeeZee, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">坐月子</span></span>) and since my Mom is not able to come and help this time, I have to write down the special meal recipes and teach my sister how to cook them. I initially planned to freeze some of these herbal / medicinal soup but unfortunately we don't have enough freezer space. I contemplated if we need to buy an additional stand alone freezer but also not sure if we have space to store the freezer. It's funny how when we moved to our current home we though we have plenty of space. It seems that now our stuff has multiplied and we outgrow this space.<br />
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I also started dreading the upcoming labor and delivery experience =P As you all know I have very low pain tolerance ... not to mention my phobia with needles. I'm already resigned to the fact that I will get tons of needle poke but that doesn't mean I'm ready to face them. I remember I got so lucky on my first pregnancy since I couldn't really feel anything when they injected epidural ... I hope the same luck persist this time around too. Even worse, some people mentioned how their second labor went so fast - they didn't even had a chance to ask for epidural!<br />
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Other than those two main to-do items, we also still need to set up the new baby swing and schedule vaccination for my daughter and my sis (dTap and Tdap) so they are safe to be around the baby.<br />
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Last but not least - one of the highlight this week for me is getting a great deal on diapers and wipes from Target *lol* I used to subscribe to one of the diaper bundle program so I almost never got my diapers from Target until Grace was around 2.5 years old. Then we switched her to pampers easy up as we started potty training her. Most of the time we either order on Amazon or get it at Target. I started noticing how on some weeks they'll have a deal for baby stuff ($20 giftcard for $100 purchase of wipes and diapers) but it was pretty random.<br />
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Since we started WFH during this pandemic early March, I downloaded the Target app so we can do online shopping or drive up. I also started subscribing to their weekly ads. Last weekend I noticed they have a deal for diapers and wipes specifically for pick up or drive up shopping. It was the standard $20 giftcard for $100 eligible purchases like I mentioned before but somehow this time in addition to getting the $20 giftcard, I was only charged for $80 something purchase ... not sure if they combined it with other deal. It was such a nice surprise. I have to stop stocking up for diapers though - I just realized I already stocked up on diapers up to size 3! That's the downside of hunting for deals, I guess :)<br />
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See you in the next baby watch post!<br />
<3<br />
<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-6086657065343927962020-07-30T11:31:00.002-07:002020-07-30T11:31:56.537-07:00What to pack for Hospital Bag - 2nd Baby EditionAs I'm getting closer to the last stretch of my third trimester, one necessary task to accomplish in my to-do list is packing a hospital bag. It took me a while this time around to pack everything up. Since it has been 4 years from my last pregnancy, I found that there are numerous new baby items on the market. So before I created my list, I did my research either by reading what other moms bring to the hospital nowadays (especially during COVID situation) and watching youtube videos. I think I spent at least a week just for the research but it was fun!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfx_WAQOevFueY00s41JisyfzvyYhPrNtJ9i1810OpgaXGBg3oPMo7rN3LNY6l5vgqVCBRc7vEHUrRr3tGdM1SFfHPpOZA3C2ll6KBe7xKRfkX15CaZJ-4GbM6ohDw26gWiYx6uIKxxD0/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2020-07-28+at+8.57.35+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="1600" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfx_WAQOevFueY00s41JisyfzvyYhPrNtJ9i1810OpgaXGBg3oPMo7rN3LNY6l5vgqVCBRc7vEHUrRr3tGdM1SFfHPpOZA3C2ll6KBe7xKRfkX15CaZJ-4GbM6ohDw26gWiYx6uIKxxD0/s640/WhatsApp+Image+2020-07-28+at+8.57.35+PM.jpeg" width="640" /></a><br />
To make it easy, I always think of these three components when packing the hospital bag:<br />
<ol>
<li>What we need for the baby</li>
<li>What we need for the mom</li>
<li>What we need for the spouse</li>
</ol>
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One key difference this time around, I definitely put more emphasis on finding items that mom needs. I remember on my first pregnancy, most of the items I packed were for the baby instead. Can you believe I brought an entire pack of Newborn size diapers just to find the hospital actually provided diapers? :)</div>
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Before we begin, please note that this list of items reflected my personal preferences and were based on my own experience during my first pregnancy. I'm trying to be more minimalistic this time around, and only include things that I know I will use or I missed and wished I had from my first experience. Going back to being minimalistic, I tried to put all the items in one carry on luggage. I like bringing a luggage instead of a duffel style bag just because it is more convenient. </div>
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So let's start with what we need for the baby!</div>
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This time around I still packed a couple diapers. The hospital usually provided enough for use during the stay, but just in case on the way back home we have poo "accident" - we will still have our own diapers handy! I also packed some size 1 diapers, since I don't know if the baby will be petite like Grace or bigger. For diapers I like the honest brand for it's cute prints, softness and eco-friendly materials. Grace had very few diaper rashes and I attributed that success to Honest diapers :)</div>
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The other notable item that I added to my list this time is photo props. I saw Annie from the StylishPetite blog use a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079GS4MDJ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">felt board</a> with her daughter name and date of birth for the pregnancy announcement photo and instantly fell in love with the idea. I figured I can also use that felt board multiple times - for the weekly baby photos for example, so it's justifiable from use vs cost perspective.</div>
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For baby's going home outfit, I prepared two onesies with different sizes. Knowing how fragile a newborn neck is, I particularly like onesies with side opening like this one <a href="https://www2.hm.com/en_us/productpage.0701784030.html" target="_blank">here</a> or <a href="https://www.carters.com/carters-baby-girl-bodysuits/194133359972.html" target="_blank">here</a>. I also like the fact that the Carters onesies come with build in mittens. H&M has organic newborn clothing range with really good materials that feels so soft to the skin. It's interesting how H&M's 0-1 month size is much smaller than Carter's newborn size. Another important point to note for FTM - different brands different sizes!</div>
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For moms - I added a bunch of postpartum care items. On my first pregnancy, I was so clueless. A couple hours after I delivered my baby, the nurse let me go to the restroom to clean myself up. They taught me how to clean myself using a squirt bottle and build a postpartum pad with multiple layers of witch hazel pads, ice pack, etc. I actually asked the hospital if I can get extras of those necessities to continue my postpartum care at home and they were kind enough to let me take it. </div>
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Items I included in my list this time around (I link it to make it easier in case you want to get the same items):</div>
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<ul>
<li>Hospital robe. I plan to use this after I deliver to nurse and have skin to skin with the baby. On my first pregnancy I thought it wasn't really necessary to bring my own robe (since it will be dirty anyways) but after the delivery I really disliked walking around in the robe provided by the hospital since I had to use my hand to close the open back all the time. I bought <a href="https://poshpeanut.com/products/gia-floral-robe?variant=16030093672497&currency=USD&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&camp_id=2077171164&grp_ip=80827357394&kw=&source=g&phys=9060284&device=c&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2NuEisf16gIVysDACh0whAxDEAQYBSABEgITx_D_BwE" target="_blank">this one</a> from post peanut and love how soft the material is.</li>
<li>Fluffy socks. I still remember how cold my feet were while lying down waiting for the dilation to reach 10 cm... especially after the doctor broke my amniotic sack. I bought <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07H55M4SP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1" target="_blank">this</a> pack from Amazon.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Depend-Incontinence-Underwear-Absorbency-Packaging/dp/B0792H2L4B/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?crid=34ZH6H774HMYS&cv_ct_cx=depends+for+women+small&dchild=1&keywords=depends+for+women+small&pd_rd_i=B0792H2L4B&pd_rd_r=f2e8da63-8a04-4370-aefb-2cdba6737435&pd_rd_w=XLDPy&pd_rd_wg=xUrrn&pf_rd_p=13bf9bc7-d68d-44c3-9d2e-647020f56802&pf_rd_r=2GWACHCJEVM9GHE288ZG&psc=1&qid=1596132332&sprefix=depend%2Caps%2C199&sr=1-1-791c2399-d602-4248-afbb-8a79de2d236f" target="_blank">Depends</a> incontinence pads. Hospital provided mesh undies but since I'm on the petite side, the undies was far too big for me (not to mention it was very heavy due to the postpartum items). Also heard other moms recommend Always.</li>
<li>Nursing friendly change of clothes. I like these <a href="https://www.amazon.com/SUIEK-Nursing-Maternity-Breastfeeding-Burgundy/dp/B07RMH4T6F/ref=sr_1_10?crid=1TY7IDZ6V7RTV&dchild=1&keywords=nursing+tank+tops&qid=1596132624&s=apparel&sprefix=nursing+%2Cfashion%2C201&sr=1-10" target="_blank">nursing tank-tops</a> from Amazon.</li>
<li>Nursing Bras. I like the one H&M has on their maternity line but somehow it was out of stock since I bought it back in February so I ended up purchasing <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Depend-Incontinence-Underwear-Absorbency-Packaging/dp/B0792H2L4B/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?crid=34ZH6H774HMYS&cv_ct_cx=depends+for+women+small&dchild=1&keywords=depends+for+women+small&pd_rd_i=B0792H2L4B&pd_rd_r=f2e8da63-8a04-4370-aefb-2cdba6737435&pd_rd_w=XLDPy&pd_rd_wg=xUrrn&pf_rd_p=13bf9bc7-d68d-44c3-9d2e-647020f56802&pf_rd_r=2GWACHCJEVM9GHE288ZG&psc=1&qid=1596132332&sprefix=depend%2Caps%2C199&sr=1-1-791c2399-d602-4248-afbb-8a79de2d236f" target="_blank">these</a> from Amazon instead. </li>
<li>Nipple balm. I used Lansinoh's lanolin balm last time so I repurchased those.</li>
<li>Nursing pads. Most likely I won't need it but just in case. I like these <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hey-Mama-Disposable-Nursing-Pads/dp/B01A7V6HHG/ref=sr_1_4?crid=2IN3O66NNJGE2&dchild=1&keywords=hey+mama+disposable+nursing+pads&qid=1596132685&sprefix=hey+mama%2Caps%2C206&sr=8-4" target="_blank">Hey Mama</a> ones - my office used to provide these nursing pads in our company's Mothers' room.</li>
<li>Toiletries - I plan to observe the Chinese tradition of postpartum care so not bringing too much here only things needed to freshen up such as face wash, <a href="https://www.sephora.com/product/blossom-bloom-ginseng-biotin-volumizing-root-powder-P444595?icid2=products%20grid:p444595:product" target="_blank">dry shampoo</a>, toothbrush, tooth paste and mouthwash. I also don't bring make up, only packing necessities like moisturizer, <a href="https://www.sephora.com/product/lip-sleeping-mask-P420652" target="_blank">lip balm</a> and eyebrow pencil.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Postpartum-Original-Fridababy-MomWasher-Cleansing/dp/B07TXLZ8MR/ref=sr_1_5?crid=8NPRHYHNPM0Q&dchild=1&keywords=frida+mom&qid=1596133272&sprefix=frida+%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-5" target="_blank">Frida mom peri bottle</a>. </li>
<li>Hair bands</li>
<li>Hair brush</li>
<li>Flip flop</li>
<li>Water bottle with a spout</li>
<li>Travel size hand sanitizers and antibacterial hand wipes</li>
<li>Snacks</li>
<li>Technology - charger (or power bank) & phone</li>
<li>IDs and paperworks</li>
</ul>
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Last, but not least - these are what I packed for my husband:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Change of clothes (with a spare)</li>
<li>Socks</li>
<li>Snacks</li>
<li>Toiletries</li>
<li>Technology - phone & charger</li>
</ul>
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You might notice there's no camera in the list, but again that's personal preference. My husband is really not into photography, so I'm usually the one who is taking picture and holding camera. However, looking from my first experience (where I was mostly asleep after getting my epidural) I don't think I will be able to take many pictures of myself or the baby anyways - and iPhone camera quality is sufficient for both of us.<br />
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I hope this is useful for you - if there's a must have items in your hospital bag checklist that I don't include, please share!</div>
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vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-27330449666225883452020-07-28T11:59:00.000-07:002020-07-28T11:59:56.297-07:00Second Pregnancy ExperienceI know everyone says every pregnancy is different but I didn't realize how true that saying is until I experienced it myself. Everything about this second pregnancy is different.<br />
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The conception story itself was pretty surprising, even sort of miraculous. Last year we visited Indonesia and traveled to the surrounding countries for a period of 6 weeks. At the last leg of our trip, as we were preparing for our flight back to the US - our daughter, Grace, fell sick. She started having cold like symptoms and running a fever a day before our supposed return flight date. If you don't know her - Grace is like an energizer bunny. So when she hardly can sit at breakfast on the morning of our scheduled departure and showed zero energy level - we panicked. My husband called the airline to postpone the trip right away, and we tried to give Grace some medication we brought from the US. Long story short - by the afternoon, she started feeling better. Her energy was back and she was eating pretty well too! We still decided to bring her to a doctor in Indonesia and she confirmed that Grace might just had a common cold.<br />
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Unfortunately, the next available flight was in a week from our original departure date. So we have to find a room in a new hotel to stay for one more week. Little did I know that one week might be the reason for this embryo to survive in my womb <3<br />
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Fast forward to the end of December, closer to Christmas time. I noticed some weird cramping but I was due for my monthly period so I didn't really fussed about it. But because my period came late, and somehow I had this nagging feeling like something was off, we decided to just buy a pregnancy check kit just to be sure ... and you know the rest of the story :)<br />
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So in a nutshell, here are some notable differences between my first and second pregnancy (4 years apart):<br />
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<ol>
<li>Nausea. When expecting Grace, I started feeling the nausea from 7 weeks and it ended at around 12 weeks. It was pretty mild - I experienced the struggle especially when brushing teeth and or when someone with a strong perfume smell was nearby. I remember going into the office cafeteria at lunch was not a pleasant experience due to the strong food smell but that's about it. With the second baby - my nausea lasted longer. It started at around 7 weeks mark as well but ended at around 18 weeks! There's so many things that I "can't" eat, and I resorted to only swallowing a small amount of rice and dried pork floss for lunch/dinner for weeks. It was either that or rice and some kind of bland soup. </li>
<li>Ligament pain. Maybe because this is the second time, my muscles are already loose so I experienced pretty bad ligament pain from my first trimester! It's also interesting how this time around the pain is more concentrated on the left ligament area, versus with Grace sometimes I experienced mild pain on the right side instead.</li>
<li>Braxton Hicks and Pelvic pain. When I carried Grace, I often wondered what Braxton hicks was. Up to my 41 weeks, I didn't really experienced contraction, pelvis pain, or spotting. The entire pregnancy was very smooth up until I swallowed a box of pineapples at 41 weeks as a desperate attempt to induce labor *lol* This time, I started experiencing Braxton Hicks at 30 weeks! It's interesting how the wave sensation was almost similar with the real contraction but without the pain of real contraction. As I'm getting to the end of my 3rd trimester, I also felt more pressure on my pelvic area to the point that sometimes going to relieve my bladder feels like a scary experience. When I brought this up to my doctor, she mentioned how the second time our body is much more sensitive / responsive to all the changes happening so the "annoying" part of pregnancy is more pronounced.</li>
<li>Sleep. When I carried Grace, up to my 41 weeks of pregnancy I could still sleep soundly through the night. But with this second pregnancy, I started having difficulty sleeping even on my 2nd trimester! As I'm getting closer to the finish line (36 weeks by the time of writing), getting an enjoyable night sleep is getting harder. I always woke a couple times during the night, if not because of my full bladder, it was due to my body aching because I have been sleeping in one position for too long :( One of my friends just shared a pregnancy myth - they said the sleep pattern during pregnancy might indicate the baby's sleep pattern later. We'll see if this is true!</li>
<li>Food aversion and cravings. I can't really remember if I had food aversion when I carried Grace, except on my first trimester. I avoided garlic, fried shallots, and shrimp due to nausea but that's about it. This time, I have zero interest in eating broccoli and eggs (which are healthy and good stuff for baby) and reflux/heartburn every time I drink milk! My husband joked about how unhealthy the food I've been eating for the second baby - but hey, I can't really control the food aversion :( To add to that, what I've been craving for this second time were also unhealthy foods like Boba milk tea and Instant noodle(!).</li>
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It's mesmerizing to think how pregnancy experience can differ so much but I'm excited and looking forward to meet with our 2nd baby. I really want to see how different this baby's personality are with Grace and looking forward to see if some of the myths I heard re: pregnancy experience indicates the baby's personality are correct!</div>
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<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-8455992167054362292020-07-27T14:33:00.001-07:002020-07-27T14:33:47.620-07:00And life goes on ... Finally was able to find and log into this blog again :)<br />
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Life has been very busy. Grace is now a blooming 4 years old. She's witty, bright, and a joy to be around. Despite her small stature, she's like an energizer bunny. I can't be more grateful to God for this daughter that He bestowed into our care. Talking about that ... I'm in the beginning of second maternity leave! We are currently expecting (at 36 weeks along) another daughter due in August :)<br />
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Right now I'm trying to enjoy a couple peaceful weeks (hopefully) before the baby arrives. I planned to finish "nesting", prep for postpartum, and just spend more quality time with Grace. That being said, looking forward to document another big life milestone in this blog. I haven't been writing for such a long time but do miss blogging from time to time. Hopeful that I can kick start / revive this blog again - at least for the next couple of weeks before I go to hiatus postpartum :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3RXitE2-erC7HP1IQVqzyNHe4g-56VhraSqfN1Rgd_FxfP4X_KeMBXegZGYPIr9ONlnHn7OqwU4us-tmXhuz35S2xakeiiiQdg8aI_U6wzROdGD-aE8A-LSMBXAMUo2Ggt_U9Mvkko0/s1600/WhatsApp+Image+2019-10-04+at+14.56.22.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="819" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE3RXitE2-erC7HP1IQVqzyNHe4g-56VhraSqfN1Rgd_FxfP4X_KeMBXegZGYPIr9ONlnHn7OqwU4us-tmXhuz35S2xakeiiiQdg8aI_U6wzROdGD-aE8A-LSMBXAMUo2Ggt_U9Mvkko0/s320/WhatsApp+Image+2019-10-04+at+14.56.22.jpeg" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Grace at 3.5 yo last Fall</td></tr>
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<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-86272865114766781372016-07-02T14:10:00.000-07:002016-08-16T11:36:28.797-07:00Grace's Birth StoryGiving birth is such as miraculous process. I'm trying to remember every single details of this amazing motherhood journey but seems like my memory of that particular day is fading really fast. So here I'm writing more details about Grace's birth story, hoping that I will have something to help me remember this life milestone in the future ... <br />
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On Wednesday morning as usual my Mom and I went for a long 3 miles walk around lake Elizabeth before heading to WholeFoods to buy pineapples. One of my friends in Singapore told me that eating pineapple really helps her start her labor (She gave birth at around 40 week-ish). I'm not too convinced at first. Also, I have been avoiding uncooked pineapple almost my entire life because I have ulcers problem. But I've tried everything else ... what would I lose trying out another "weird" suggestion?<br />
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So that afternoon I ate the entire small box of cut pineapples with sambal rujak. I waited, as if something was supposed to happen instantly, but of course nothing happened. Strangely enough, my ulcers did not protest the uncooked pineapples. I felt fine and the entire day went without any incident.<br />
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Around 10.30 PM, I went downstairs to talk to my husband who was washing the dishes. Suddenly I felt an urge to go pee. After I relieved myself, I sat down on the sofa. Then I felt something trickles ... a drop, two drops, and more. I was thinking: "Is it my amniotic fluid? Does it just begin to break?" I went back to the restroom to check ... and found that I was actually having some spotting. I was beyond thrilled. Finally something happened!<br />
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Hubby told me to call labor and delivery and see if we need to go to the hospital. They were not too concerned. They advised us to wait and see if I would begin to experience some regular contraction in addition to the spotting. So we went to bed. Around 11.30 PM, I noticed this strange sensation around my pelvis area, like something is tightening. After a while, the sensation becomes stronger and stronger. We downloaded an app to count contractions. I waited for 2 long hours ... before finally caved in and called labor and delivery again. My contractions were not very regular ... mostly they were around 40ish second long with 8-9 minutes interval. This time, labor and delivery told us to come in for a check. So we drove to the hospital - which was 29 miles away from where we live, btw. But because it was in the middle of the night, there was no traffic and we arrived in around 20 minutes.<br />
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I began to feel the pain getting stronger as we walked to the labor and delivery department. I also noticed when walking my contractions were coming in closer interval.<br />
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We checked in and were ushered to an observation room. I was asked to take a urine sample. It was really hard doing that in between contractions. After waiting for a while, the doctor came and performed an internal check. I was only 1 cm dilated but 75% effaced. We were advised to go back home, wait until the contractions become stronger and more regular before calling labor and delivery again. The hospital was full at the moment so they would rather us wait at home ... so we went home.<br />
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As soon as I got home, I took a long shower and washed my hair. Who knows when I will have a chance to wash my hair again (Chinese tradition dictate women who just gave birth to wait for a month before washing their hair for health reasons). After I cleaned myself, instead of sleeping on the bed, I went downstairs and tried to sleep on the sofa. I just don't want my amniotic fluid to break while I'm sleeping on the bed.<br />
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After a while I realized trying to sleep was a futile effort. The contraction pain made me unable to sleep. I was just waiting and counting ... absorbing all the pain until morning. Around 7 AM, the contractions had became unbearable. My mom came down and I asked her to wake my hubby up, we really need to go to the hospital because I couldn't hold the pain anymore. At that time the contractions lasted more than a minute at 4 to 5 minutes interval. We went to the hospital at around 8 AM which was really bad because that is when traffic in bay area is the worst due to the morning commute.<br />
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After a very long and painful drive, we arrived at the hospital at around 9AM. I wasn't able to walk so hubby had to get a wheelchair for me. After checked in, again we were ushered to the observation room and I was asked to take another urine sample. I tried, but really couldn't get a decent sample amount. The contractions had become very painful - I even had difficulty to walk. So the doctor came, checked, and told us that I'm 4 cm dilated and 85% effaced. They were still trying to tell us to go home and wait but I told them I need an epidural right away. I couldn't hold the pain anymore. The doctor gave in and told me they would give me the epidural.<br />
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We waited for a while before a nurse came and brought us to one of the labor and delivery rooms. The room we had was pretty nice actually ... not brand new but it has a decent size. I really like our first nurse. She is an old Chinese lady called Sue. She fusses around like I'm her own daughter. I asked her to numb me first before inserting the IV, which was really helpful. I hardly can feel the IV needle. She told me not every nurse are as good with IV and numbing shots as her, so I was lucky I got her :)<br />
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Sue also told me I could get some kind of medication to ease the pain while waiting for the anesthesiologist. I gladly accepted. Thinking about it, maybe this was a great decision since after the medication I was so sleepy I hardly could feel anything else. Even the epidural. It's either that or the anesthesiologist is a genius. Well, I overheard Sue and the anesthesiologist chatting to each other and turns out she has been working with Kaiser for over 30 years!<br />
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Before she performed the epidural, she told me about all the risks and asked if I have any concerns. I asked her to make sure that I do not have any scoliosis since I heard a horror story from a friend who had one. She assured me that I do not have any scoliosis so the procedure should be much simpler. However, she was super concerned because I could hardly open my eyes. She was afraid I could not hold the posture needed to perform an epidural injection. Hubby had to intercede and helped me with my posture. Hubby kept on talking to me and hold my hands to make sure I am awake and able to hold my posture. Thank God the process was a breeze! I did not feel any pain. My contractions were becoming painless too... I still could feel something going on, but there was no pain.<br />
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Around 1PM another doctor performed an internal check and told us that I was 7 cm dilated! We were thrilled because seems like the labor was imminent. Sadly, nothing happened in the next couple hours.<br />
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Sue left, and another nurse, Melissa took her place. She was very sweet too. That entire day, they told me I couldn't eat anything except clear liquid and jell-o, so I opted for the later. Every time they asked if I want anything, I told them I want jell-o :) My mom was very anxious because I did not get to eat anything since morning. But strangely, I didn't really feel hungry. I guess the IVs must have caused that. At one point in time, I think it was around 4PM, they actually started giving pitocin to me to help kick start my active labor and increase my dilation. But still there was no improvement until 7 PM ...<br />
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Around 7.30, Melissa noticed something in the fetal heartbeat monitor and suddenly there were 5-6 nurses and doctor swarmed into the room. They did another internal check, discussed something and adjusted my IV. They also gave me an oxygen mask. A few minutes passed by and everybody seemed to be watching the monitor anxiously... and then they saw the improvement they wanted to see and then the room cleared up again. The doctor stayed and she told me that my baby's heartbeat was decreasing for a while. Seems like the pitocin level they gave me was too high, I had so many regular contractions, and it made the baby uncomfortable because she had to hold her breath during each contraction. Now, they stopped giving pitocin to me so the baby can rest for a while. They said they will give the pitocin again after 30 minutes. <br />
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When they checked in again, it seemed that my body was starting to have regular contractions on its own, so they did not continue giving the pitocin. I actually started feeling something similar to a bowel movement every once in a while. I told Melissa and she told me to not push even though I really feel like it. I was told to breathe out the "bowel movement". This sensation continued until 10 PM and getting stronger and stronger. At that time, I urged my new nurse Cathy to call the doctor to do another check because I really really want to push ...<br />
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Sadly I was still 7 cm dilated so I was instructed not to push. But the doctor said the baby now sat really low and she could feel my water bag pushing down. So to help, she broke my water bag. Not long after, my body temp rose. The doctor came in and told me about the possibility of doing a c-sec since I'm starting to have fever. In the meantime, they flushed me with more IV, hoping to turn the body temp down again.<br />
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The IV treatment worked. My body temperature was normal again. A new nurse came in (either Cathy or Melissa were on break) and she forced me to switch my body position. I have been laying on my sides the entire day after they gave me the epidural, but the nurses have been helping me switch sides every 30 minutes. The last time I switched my position was just like 10 minutes ago, and it wasn't easy switching position when your entire lower body was so numb. I tried to tell the nurse I just changed my position but she won't listen. I was pretty upset with this new nurse. To add to my irritation, she forced me to hold a "peanut ball" between my leg. She said this could speed up the dilation. Unfortunately, it also made the "bowel movement" stronger and I really really couldn't help but pushing every time the sensation came. Around 12AM, I told Cathy she needs to find the doctor and told the doctor I have been pushing for a while since I could not fight my bowel movement anymore. At 1AM, the doctor finally came to performed another internal check and she gave me a go ahead to push since I'm fully dilated!<br />
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And suddenly I was in active labor mode. Cathy told me to push every time I feel the strange bowel movement which turned out to be contractions. She kept on giving me encouragement every time I was done pushing along with my contractions. She told me I was doing really well. I was actually pushing really hard since I did not want my dear daughter to get stuck for a while in the birth canal and have a cone head. The doctor came by to check and she decided to stay since I'm progressing pretty rapidly. I remember seeing her sat down there preparing her scissors and so on ... Suddenly she asked, "are you ready to see your baby Mommy?" and she pulled her out and placed her on my breast. Everything happens really fast. Nurses tried to clean her while I hold her and my husband was asked to cut her umbilical cord. I found it hard not to cry. Finally she is here after a very long 9 month of pregnancy!<br />
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So my entire labor lasted for 27 hours - from the beginning of my regular contractions to the moment Grace was born. But the active labor itself was just 1.5 hours which was not bad at all. I had 2nd degree tear, which was again, not bad for a first pregnancy. All in all I was beyond grateful to God for giving me a relatively easy pregnancy and labor.<br />
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And here is my bundle of joy when she is one week old:<br />
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Now I truly understand what it means by loving somebody to the moon and back :)<br />
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<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-20483204347053399362016-06-21T11:32:00.000-07:002016-06-21T11:32:29.183-07:0041 weeks - Baby is here!This is a very late post - but as you can guess, the baby is finally here!<br />
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She was born at exactly 41 weeks gestational age, which is June 16th for her. So we're late by a week. I was pretty stressed up waiting for her to be born. I did everything that I could - long walk everyday, going up and down the stairs exercise everyday, doing house chores, lifting boxes, nothing could trigger my water bag to break. What really helped me was eating a bunch of Pineapples!<br />
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Anyways ... daddy posted an announcement on his Facebook which I will also share here:<br />
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"<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">We are overjoyed by the grace of God to welcome baby Grace Louisa Kurniawan at 2:24 AM on June 16, 2016. She is 19.5 inches and weighing at 6 pounds 13 ounces. The baby and the mommy are healthy. She is gorgeous! We are thankful to have friends who are always there for us. Thank you so much for your support and prayers!"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">And here she is... our "Grace"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;"><br /></span>vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-57657957692504424962016-06-08T22:19:00.000-07:002016-06-08T22:19:02.945-07:00Almost ... 40 Weeks PregnantDear Baby,<br />
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Today we had our 39 weeks and 6 days check-up. Doctor said everything looks good. The swelling on mommy's feet is very minimal. Mommy's blood pressure is good too. But ... the cervix hasn't dilate yet :(<br />
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Your head is definitely lower than a week ago, but we need you to make more effort. Tomorrow was supposed to be your due date, but looking at the state of the cervix this afternoon, slim chance we are going to make it. It's ok if you don't make it exactly on the due date - only 5% of babies do. But please don't take too long even though mommy's belly is very comfy.<br />
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Doctor asked mommy and daddy to settle for a plan - since we can't let you stay longer than 42 weeks. As of now, we are scheduled to meet with the doctor again a week from now. If there is some small improvement but we are still going too slow, she will perform a membrane sweep to help kick start the labor. If that doesn't help, we are scheduled for an induction on June 19th. Mommy does not like both options. If it's possible, mommy wants the labor to start naturally without having to go through those two painful procedures.<br />
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You know, one of mommy's colleagues actually went through the membrane sweep procedure last February. She warned mommy not to do that. It was very painful for her, and she had a 32 hours long labor. Never in my mind I imagine that I would have to do the same procedure. Somehow mommy always believe you will come sooner than your due date...<br />
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Right now mommy is a bit worried. You are very active and moving normally, but mommy keeps on thinking about how the belly might not be big enough for you. If it's comfortable for you to be there. If the amniotic fluid is still enough. Every night before falling asleep, mommy wonders if this is going to be her last peaceful night before you come ... but on the other hand, mommy is also very anxious and can hardly wait to see you!<br />
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Do you know that your Grandma is here already? She is really looking forward to see you too!<br />
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Not to mention all the aunties and uncles that have been asking Mommy and Daddy about you!</div>
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Now, people have been giving a lot of advice for us. Mostly they are telling mommy to move and make herself busy - as if mommy hasn't done it this entire time :( Now mommy is determined to make herself VERY busy in order to help you find your way out. So baby... please please please come out soon.<br />
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We love you and really looking forward to see you!<br />
<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-38517339900861324032016-05-25T14:40:00.000-07:002016-05-25T14:40:51.212-07:00Newborn Favorite PurchasesJust want to share with you a few of my favorite purchases so far as we are waiting for our baby girl. Hopefully if you are also preparing for your newborn baby, this list could help you decide on brands or product that you might end up buying :)<br />
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<ol>
<li>Aden+Anais <a href="http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/the-honest-company-x-aden-anais-organic-cotton-swaddles-set-of-3/4280427" target="_blank">organic swaddle</a> in collaboration with the honest company. Quite a few of my coworker are actually expecting around the same time with me. My senior manager gave birth earlier this year and she has been a source of information for me as well as the other new moms in our office. She shared how swaddling really help soothe a fuzzy baby and highly recommended this muslin swaddles. Additionally, I've read and heard so many good review about Aden+Anais muslin swaddle online. I first saw this pack of organic swaddles on Zulily during a promotion back at March but I passed because I still wasn't sure if I want the organic kind. I soon regret that decision because it was super hard to find a good discount for this product anywhere else. Finally I decided to just purchase my first pack from Nordstrom at full price. As soon as I washed it, I knew I would need to buy another pack. The Aden+Anais swaddles are so soft, it's hard to imagine swaddling my baby with other swaddles. Not to mention the patterns are so darn cute! Luckily, a few weeks after, my friend told me there was a promotion going on honest website. $20 off from a $50 purchase or $40 off from a $100 purchase. So in addition to stocking honest diapers and wipes (I'm super curious about the product and really want to try), I bought my second pack of swaddles :) Seems like it is currently out of stock on honest website, but keep on checking! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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GAP baby's ballet bunny slippers. We were at the mall looking for cute baby stuff to be used as a photo prop since we would have our pregnancy photo sessions the next day, when we spotted this pair of super cute shoes. Unfortunately, there was no price tag anywhere. We looked around the store trying to find similar item, but seemed like this was the only one left. Since I really want it, hubby said it was okay to just purchased it. Other baby shoes were sold for around $20, so that's the number we had in mind. To our surprise - they have a promotion running and the bunny shoes were just $7! It really made my day. </div>
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Burt Bees organic onesies - as pictured above along with the bunny slippers. My close friend actually found a few burt bees items were on sale at Marshalls. She bought me two sets of organic onesies, each for only $3.99! I ended up scouring TJ Maxx and Marshalls around my area to buy more of these organic onesies since it was such a great deal for organic clothing. I can't find similar style online, but <a href="http://www.burtsbeesbaby.com/Spiral-Bee-Bodysuit-Set/LY23168-BLM-3M,en_US,pd.html?start=95&cgid=Baby_Girl_Clothing&prefn1=size&prefv1=0-3%20Months" target="_blank">these</a> look cute too!</div>
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<a href="https://www.babyletto.com/hudson-3-in-1-convertible-crib" target="_blank">Babyletto Hudson Crib</a> in gray and white combination. I read a review somewhere about this crib and it mentioned how the crib's height is good for petite women. I researched more about the company and really like the fact that they use eco friendly and non toxic material. Plus, the crib has a sleek modern design that hubby and I really like. We ended up purchasing the crib through BuyBuyBaby and actually got a 20% off plus free shipping :) The other bonus - according to hubby it wasn't hard to assemble at all. The only downside I would say, we had to wait for more than a month to get the product because this particular color combination is popular and the product was back-ordered. </div>
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H&M conscious collection <a href="http://www.hm.com/us/product/45676?article=45676-A" target="_blank">side-opening onesies</a>. So ... I'm actually pretty worried about dressing my newborn baby, especially before the umbilical cord stump fall off. I also don't like the fact that we have to slide normal onesies through the baby's head. I imagined it should be much easier to just have a side opening onesies. I was thrilled to find these organics onesies from H&M. They come in pastel colors which I adore too! </div>
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So those are my favorite purchases so far. Please share if you have a list of favorite items for newborn too!</div>
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<3</div>
<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-3129840055098185292016-05-23T13:31:00.000-07:002016-05-23T13:31:24.894-07:00Parisian-themed Baby ShowerSharing a lighter pregnancy post today :)<br />
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Back in April, our friends throw us a "half" surprise baby shower. Why half surprise? I kinda knew they were planning a baby shower because one friend asked for my input especially regarding who to invite. She also asked me about the settings of the baby shower - whether I want it to be a formal sitting lunch / dinner with the girls or a casual one with couples. But that's the extend of my knowledge about the shower, she is very quiet about the rest of the detail. So a few weeks passed and there were nothing =P<br />
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A day before the baby shower, turned out somebody accidentally asked my husband whether husbands are welcome to join the event. So he knew when exactly is the baby shower! But he kept the secret from me.<br />
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The next day was Sunday. As I was getting dressed to go to the Church, hubby asked me if I want to wear a dress instead. I told him no, because according to the weather forecast, it was going to be pretty windy that day. It was actually kinda funny because he insisted that I changed into something nicer ... he was saying things like, "you know - the shower could be anytime now, don't you want to look nice if turns out the shower is today?" I was getting a bit suspicious, but never crossed my mind that he actually did know that the shower was that day. I thought he was just speculating.<br />
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After church, we had a plan to meet with one friend to setup infant car seat in our new baby car :) The weirdness continued though, because this one friend suddenly said she can't meet us for lunch, and asked us to come to her place at 4PM instead. I looked around the church for our other friends, wondering if they have a different lunch plan and if we can join them. But everybody seemed to vanish into thin air as soon as the service concluded.<br />
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It was almost 4PM and we were still doing some shopping at a Target nearby where my friend live. She sent me a message on WhatsApp asking where I was and if I was already en route to their place. My suspicion was getting stronger. When we arrived, she messaged me and told me to meet her and her baby at the pool near her condo's club house. While parking, I noticed a few familiar heads peeked from inside the closed and seemingly empty club house. AHA!<br />
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I was instantly in love with the theme they picked and the decoration.<br />
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Baby bump at 33 weeks :)</div>
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We played baby shower games - guessing baby food and drinking milk competition from baby bottle with level 1 nipple. We had so much fun!<br />
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Opening presents for our baby girls:<br />
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And ... group picture with all our dearest friends:<br />
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Very thankful for having such a great friends here in the US. We were far from our family in Indonesia, but never lacking supports because we have them :)vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-68603023969927106572016-05-20T13:57:00.000-07:002016-05-23T13:32:26.903-07:00My First TrimesterNot sure if I have mentioned this before in this blog, but I have a very low pain tolerance level. Well, I guess all of you should have kinda know since I wrote the <a href="http://hengkyvero.blogspot.com/2010/10/tb-test.html" target="_blank">TB test</a> post :) I really hate injection and I know I would have to get a lot of shots and blood checks if I am pregnant. So, I was actually super scared of getting pregnant.<br />
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To my surprise though, as soon as I found out that I'm pregnant, I was not worrying about the number of shots I would get or the blood checks. Most of the time in my early pregnancy, I worried about my baby's development and really looked forward to pass the 12 weeks milestone. Why? Because that's when the chance of miscarriage decrease significantly. Also, that is when embryo graduate to become a fetus. So to sum up what my first trimester experience felt like, it felt like I was on a race. I was just super focused on getting through the first trimester and didn't have time to worry about the shots/injection/blood tests or the upcoming labor.<br />
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I already shared some physical changes that I experienced on my early pregnancy in the last post such as always feeling tired, nauseous, sleepy, etc. Some other random stories from my first trimester:<br />
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1. Food aversion.<br />
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I really love fried shallots. I add them on soup, fried rice, instant noodle, everything! But ever since I'm pregnant, the after taste of fried shallots (and garlic!) becomes unbearable. On my last post I mentioned that I experienced a "light" morning sickness, but that does not mean I passed through my first trimester without any incidents. I remembered one night hubby had a dinner plan with a few of his old roommates. Because we wouldn't have dinner together, he asked what I want to eat for dinner so we could just buy it for to-go. I felt like eating something light so I told him I wanted a vietnamese rice noodle box with pork from Asian Box. When he picked me up from the office that day, I was already super hungry, I munched on the rice noodle box on our way home. As soon as we got home, I took a bath while hubby prepared to go out and meet his friends. However, the combination of hot water, brushing teeth, and the after taste of fried shallots resulted in an explosion in the bath tub :) I threw up in the shower and dear hubby has to clean the entire tub before he can go out and meet his friend. I felt so bad but it was really out of my control - everything happened so fast. Lesson learned though - I'm avoiding fried shallot for the rest of my pregnancy.<br />
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Another food I love that becomes my enemy during my pregnancy is shrimp. I'm a seafood lover through and through. But hubby is the other way around, he can't tolerate seafood except fish. In my early pregnancy, either the smell or the texture of shrimps threw me off. I couldn't eat shrimps as if, they need to be processed with other meats. I even tried eating my favorite shrimp dumpling (<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=har+gaw&espv=2&biw=1382&bih=731&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiEr9CmqOfMAhXIpYMKHSmZAUcQ_AUIBygB" target="_blank">har gow</a>) but found it be really hard to swallow. Not sure why, but I'm blaming my hubby's gene inside the baby :)<br />
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2. Scary moment.<br />
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When I was either 10 weeks or 11 weeks pregnant, one night before we went to sleep I experienced weird cramping sensation. It was like a rolling wave, starting from my rib cage going down. It didn't disappear when I changed my sleeping position. I panicked. It closely matched the description of contractions that I read online. I called the Kaiser hotline number and spoke with a nurse. He was very concerned but he wanted to check all the other possibilities. He asked me if I have a bowel movement that day - which I did - and suggested me to try emptying my bowel. He also scheduled a check up the next day with my OB. I followed his suggestion - and found out that I was actually having a really bad diarrhea. I went to the bathroom a few times during that night. I felt miserable and anxious. The next day, I went to the hospital and met with my OB. She performed a pelvic exam and informed me that everything still looks good and the mucus plug is intact without any sign of bleeding. To be sure though, she wanted to let me hear the heartbeat of my baby. Guess what? She couldn't find it. I was in the verge of tears. She told me to calm down and went out to fetch the USG machine. Thank God the baby was there! We can see the heart beating really strong, although it was weird that the doppler couldn't find the heartbeat. Later I found out that I might have eaten something bad for lunch the day before - a few of my friends who ate the same dish had diarrhea too. Another lesson learned - be very mindful about what to eat!<br />
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3. Hubby's birthday.<br />
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As expected, I really didn't have enough time or energy to make elaborate plan for hubby's birthday that November. Especially, hubby was actually battling with cold and cough throughout the month of October - we later found out that he had a sinus infection. Thankfully, early November he was getting a bit better.<br />
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There was a new Korean BBQ place nearby where we used to live. In such little amount of time, the restaurant had hundreds glowing yelp review - pretty close to thousand actually. A group of our Indonesian friends were trying to book a reservation to try out the new place since late September, and the date that was given to us was actually my hubby's birth date. So we made everything simple and decide to celebrate his birthday over there - no surprise for him this year :)<br />
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I remembered how Hubby and I were extra careful with the meat, making sure everything is well cooked. We shared a table and a stove with two other friends, but thankfully it seemed that they did not realize anything weird with the way I ate. We weren't ready to share the good news back then :)<br />
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Did I look pregnant already? ;p<br />
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4. Leggings vs Jeans.<br />
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Remember I told you about my light morning sickness? It wasn't as if I didn't experience any discomfort at all, but I was thankful because it seemed like it was still manageable. I had all the nausea, feeling bloated, and gagging reaction whenever I smelled food. But eating small snacks throughout the day helped and also ... changing jeans into leggings. Not sure why, but it seemed like my belly area expanded pretty fast. Soon after I found out about the pregnancy, maybe as soon as week 6 or 7, wearing jeans became so uncomfortable. At that time, I refused to buy maternity jeans so early because I thought my belly will continue to expand and I would need to buy a different size anyway. But you know what, I get so used to wearing leggings - I actually haven't bought any maternity jeans and now I'm in my final stretch (37 weeks)! <br />
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5. Pregnancy announcement.<br />
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Before we are expecting, we used to wonder why people try to hide the fact that they are expecting. Isn't it such a wonderful news? Why don't people want to share it?<br />
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Little did we know about all the early miscarriage facts and the survival rate of embryo. So many things can go wrong. It's really hard not to tell everybody actually, but deep down inside you have all these worries and you just want to make sure everything is okay first before sharing it to the world. So we actually waited until we passed the 12 week milestone before letting our friends know that we are expecting. It was quite a surprise I would say, some of them kinda guessed but a lot of people were actually unaware. It felt great to be out in the open though! :)<br />
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Anyway, those are stories from my first trimester. Please share stories of yours too - would love to hear them!vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-2916446954155753282016-05-19T15:37:00.000-07:002016-05-19T15:50:44.364-07:00Our First Pregnancy AppointmentWe waited for another 3.5 weeks before we could meet with my OB and truly confirmed the pregnancy. It was the longest 3.5 weeks ever in my life!<br />
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Have you ever heard about how your mom pregnancy experience might affect yours? Well, actually I heard both ways - some people believe it might, some people don't. In my case, it doesn't - at all. I'm actually super scared of getting pregnant because my mom had very difficult pregnancies for the three of us. She told me how she had severe morning sickness and had to stay in bed up to 6 months when she carried us girls and 4 months when she carried my brother. However, I did notice some physical changes.<br />
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The most apparent change was with my energy level. I noticed how I got sleepy all the time. My husband and I carpooled together to work everyday. During those weeks, I usually sleep on our way home. Once we're home, I found it so hard to do normal activities, all I wanted was to lie on the sofa and sleep. I did not really experience morning sickness until around week 6 or 7. Looking back, I think my morning sickness was pretty light. I had the expected urge to throw up every time I brush my teeth and queasiness in my tummy throughout the day. I also experienced a heightened sense of smell ... I hated strong perfume and the smell of food. But thank God I was still able to work.<br />
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After what seemed like forever, October 28th came along. Hubby picked me up from my office and we went together to Kaiser Mountain View. We were told that in this first appointment, the doctor would perform an ultrasound to check whether or not the embryo is developing as it should and find out our expected due date.<br />
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As soon as the doctor prepared the ultrasound machine, hubby was ready with his iPhone. He wanted to take video of our first USG. But, to his surprise, the doctor actually told him to wait until she confirmed that there is a baby in my uterus. I know she didn't mean any harm, but still my heart sank to my knees. When she finally said, "I'm seeing one healthy embryo here - see you can see the heart beating fast and strong," my tears started falling down. I was so relieved! All this time while waiting for the appointment, I noticed changes in my body but I really want to be sure that the baby is growing healthy inside of me.<br />
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Then my husband ask, "are you sure there are no other embryo? Not a twin?"<br />
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*LOL* He really wants a twin.<br />
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But nope, the doctor confirmed that she could only see one embryo. Then she measured the embryo and told us our due date - June 9th 2016. A summer baby!<br />
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Here's how the baby looks like at our first USG:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2rzTlfuPYVmK4LcGaba_wamoDLIFDjXqaJX8QPWcXRZAm1YLqV4l5sycKKAsPph85o0px_OBz1Vx_a0o6olPyc4OkIQMLla1gn9CvNknaqO8rxsFPTRBCiZLgEYl5z2d9Hm0AKDuHWDg/s1600/blog2016_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2rzTlfuPYVmK4LcGaba_wamoDLIFDjXqaJX8QPWcXRZAm1YLqV4l5sycKKAsPph85o0px_OBz1Vx_a0o6olPyc4OkIQMLla1gn9CvNknaqO8rxsFPTRBCiZLgEYl5z2d9Hm0AKDuHWDg/s320/blog2016_3.jpg" width="274" /></a></div>
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Other than doing the ultrasound, we were given tons of pregnancy related information during that first visit, including nutritional guide (what food to eat and what food to avoid) and the dreaded California Prenatal Screening Program. I'll talk more about this screening program and how I feel about it in another post.<br />
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One more picture of the happy mommy and daddy to be:<br />
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<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-18444940986492531282016-05-17T10:11:00.000-07:002016-05-17T10:51:45.598-07:00The ConfirmationThe next day was Saturday.<br />
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When we woke up, the first thing we did was trying another test pack. I was curious to find out if a different brand of test pack will give me a different result. But nope, it was still a clear positive. So off we go to Kaiser Santa Clara to get the blood work done.<br />
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We came pretty early in the morning but we found out early morning on the weekend was actually the worst time to go to that lab. It was jam-packed. We took a number, waited for a while before we were called by administration, and waited some more before our number was called by the system to line up in front of the lab. All those time, my brain was busy entertaining all the "what if?" questions.<br />
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I actually did a bit more research online about the possibility of getting a "false positive" test pack result, and became a little bit worried. As I mentioned in the last post, for the test pack to show positive result, it needs to detect enough hCG hormone (the pregnancy hormone) in my urine. And usually you don't have a high level of hCG hormone until you miss your period for that specific cycle (I did my test 4 days before the start date of my expected period that month). However, hCG hormone level could develop a bit faster because of different reasons such as (but not limited to):<br />
1) You're carrying a twin<br />
2) You're on fertility treatment<br />
3) You're having an ectopic pregnancy<br />
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I'm not on a fertility treatment - so the 2nd cause is ruled out. Twin ... is a different case. My maternal grandmother is an identical twin and she gave birth to a twin who died when they were still infants. We do have a family history for twin. The last cause was the one that made me worried the most. Read more about ectopic pregnancy here: <a href="http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/pregnancy-ectopic-pregnancy">http://www.webmd.com/baby/guide/pregnancy-ectopic-pregnancy</a><br />
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Anyway, after we got the lab work done, we went to a Korean bakery and coffee shop nearby to wait for the result. Usually I just need to wait for an hour or two and then my Kaiser app will show update for the test result. But an hour passed by, and still there was no update. My best friend called and asked us to meet for lunch together somewhere in Santa Clara. It was still pretty early for lunch and we're already in the area, so I asked my hubby to drop by at the nearby bookstore to kill time. But we ended up purchasing this:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPvhW61Z7YHhKZi_jun05BalVXarHAY8xeQqUoGAdg4dzYOUdDxnADbk6Ozs7LHlGe2QZke1jNCaSC-b4-HrOpR2xjKmNwfj-IzisQGOP5sgnpvnaNGwWHLf4CHOLmaiE_K2qOJvoHKBE/s1600/blog2016_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPvhW61Z7YHhKZi_jun05BalVXarHAY8xeQqUoGAdg4dzYOUdDxnADbk6Ozs7LHlGe2QZke1jNCaSC-b4-HrOpR2xjKmNwfj-IzisQGOP5sgnpvnaNGwWHLf4CHOLmaiE_K2qOJvoHKBE/s400/blog2016_1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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So maybe I have a feeling that I'm pregnant after all :) This is basically our first baby-related purchase.<br />
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After lunch, I checked my app again and still there were no update. My friend and her hubby were also curious so we decided to go to a bubble tea place to just hang out and wait some more for any news. I remember checking that app every 30 minutes or so, but there was nothing.<br />
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Around 4PM, we decided to call it a day and headed home. On our way home though, I received a call from Kaiser! I was so nervous so I didn't catch the entire conversation - the only thing I heard was the blood test result shows that I'm pregnant. Soon after I got an email from my OB and she confirmed the previous phone call from the lab, and told me to schedule our first pregnancy appointment when I'm 7 or 8 weeks pregnant.<br />
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Both hubby and I were having mixed emotions. Of course we were very happy, but we never expected this to happen really soon so. We're also super worried, we started thinking about all things that we need to do to make sure everything is ready for the baby. Above all though, we were so grateful to God for his amazing gift to our family.<br />
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That night, we took our first "bump" picture although there's nothing to see yet *lol*<br />
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Coming next ... story about our first doctor appointment :)<br />
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<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-62371811178525304842016-05-14T14:53:00.001-07:002016-05-14T14:54:24.173-07:00The DiscoveryLast summer we went on our first Europe trip. We visited three countries - France, Switzerland, and Italy. We have decided to stop any "prevention" during the trip, but thank God I didn't get pregnant there at Europe because I ate so many cold cuts (deli meats) and other foods that are bad for babies. It was a fun trip but also super exhausting.<br />
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Some random pictures from the trip:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTf1rElIjBpeTUWrf7v34naJdV4y9vKKvB-T11Fnukxj70GQHwa6RiznGLslFalkQB_uxW70hE4iaj1FBuWnNj8P7BDSLOp0OoQ66egw35xTQjyXBth5ZxNLTC8n8Oh93wvJir_WR_cE/s1600/Bancogiro_Venice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtTf1rElIjBpeTUWrf7v34naJdV4y9vKKvB-T11Fnukxj70GQHwa6RiznGLslFalkQB_uxW70hE4iaj1FBuWnNj8P7BDSLOp0OoQ66egw35xTQjyXBth5ZxNLTC8n8Oh93wvJir_WR_cE/s400/Bancogiro_Venice.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first dinner at Venice - Bancogiro</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedoqFFu4MbEW3iH_VXF9W1ZtOyyE4snjCsZCoQJUdn2aQ8MsHRokzmwFqZGzPxfYn2oy7QYU0OY8h_m8wHIB7XIM3VNbrTZEAlB1uYuloSnRupFjfX2bZVD827XSV0bYiGIm1-mq2YnU/s1600/2015-08-23_065818146_9712C_iOS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgedoqFFu4MbEW3iH_VXF9W1ZtOyyE4snjCsZCoQJUdn2aQ8MsHRokzmwFqZGzPxfYn2oy7QYU0OY8h_m8wHIB7XIM3VNbrTZEAlB1uYuloSnRupFjfX2bZVD827XSV0bYiGIm1-mq2YnU/s400/2015-08-23_065818146_9712C_iOS.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Selfie with the Iron Lady of Paris :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFzBHj11fVLBGao8zX2K-A3Lx1udiVgmOHeJ9lpSgwYry4I8ei15_JUNPxyP8E14AGO0qOosxutxHcROa0bqmeRvdHtI2HQSJ4iw5aslk0_ommEiVoY9kOeRxQO3q7JsXqq0UIjLJ5V_Q/s1600/20150828_101606.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFzBHj11fVLBGao8zX2K-A3Lx1udiVgmOHeJ9lpSgwYry4I8ei15_JUNPxyP8E14AGO0qOosxutxHcROa0bqmeRvdHtI2HQSJ4iw5aslk0_ommEiVoY9kOeRxQO3q7JsXqq0UIjLJ5V_Q/s400/20150828_101606.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Luzern</td></tr>
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When we were back, I was so stressed out at work trying to keep myself up to date after traveling for 20 plus days. We also still had some summer projects that have been extended until September. Additionally, a new career path opened up and I had to make a hard decision on where I want to grow more in my career. One night, I started having menstrual-like cramping at night. It was pretty bad actually. The pain literally woke me up from my sleep. This happened for 2-3 days straight. The funny thing was, my menstrual period was not due until another week ... Initially, I blamed the stress level at work. Maybe it messed up with my hormonal cycle.<br />
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I took a sick day from work after not getting enough sleep for 2-3 days straight. The next day when I'm back, my coworker asked what happened and I told her about my mysterious cramping sessions at night that keep me awake. She smiled and told me to buy a test pack. I remember when I heard that, I looked at her as if she was joking. Never crossed on my mind that I might be pregnant this soon. I spent the entire day actually mulling over this idea ... and that night on my way back from work, I asked my hubby to stop by at Safeway to buy a test pack. I thought there's no harm in checking.<br />
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The next morning, we studied the test pack packaging and learned that the accuracy level will be very low if I'm still far away from my expected period date on that month. Still ... curiousity made us try. Lo and behold!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFKjnx_KP2IB6ORriu2MVgj_J6xOlp0oxzbg4DfinygOEc-vSseSYgD57gkqg55ycYLwendo_VpaBU72LeYVXqk9WqHNmqM_60W6CKMmGv-eZFFPmXtJIpmk42Rw4Trbum41ItIv7n2c/s1600/WhatsApp-Image-20160514.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmFKjnx_KP2IB6ORriu2MVgj_J6xOlp0oxzbg4DfinygOEc-vSseSYgD57gkqg55ycYLwendo_VpaBU72LeYVXqk9WqHNmqM_60W6CKMmGv-eZFFPmXtJIpmk42Rw4Trbum41ItIv7n2c/s320/WhatsApp-Image-20160514.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First positive test pack result - Friday, October 2nd, 2015 </td></tr>
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Both of us were in disbelief. Not that we were not happy. We just weren't sure if this was happening this soon. Plus, there were still question about the accuracy of test pack if used before the expected period due date.<br />
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I called my closest friend and she told me usually test pack is not accurate if it's showing you a negative result instead of positive. It's actually quite hard to get a 'false' positive from a test pack. I googled similar query online, and found similar answers. Basically I need to have enough hCG hormone in order for the test pack to show positive result - which seems to be the case.<br />
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Hubby were still in disbelief, he wanted a confirmation. So I emailed my OB and asked if we can get a blood test to confirm that I'm really pregnant. My OB kindly sent a request to the lab on the same day, so we could come tomorrow to any lab and get the blood work done.<br />
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To be continued ... :)<br />
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vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-13702502274269160602016-05-13T12:46:00.005-07:002016-05-13T14:13:51.853-07:00Update from 2016Hello everyone!<br />
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I finally have time to update this blog. I stopped writing a few years back because something really sad happened, and I found it really hard to continue writing. But anyway ... things are getting better. In fact, very exciting things have been happening to us in the past 3 years.<br />
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The newest and greatest news from us:<br />
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WE ARE EXPECTING!<br />
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So we have been married for a while, but because of so many reasons, we postponed having a child. Summer last year, we finally made up our mind and decided that we were ready ... and all praise to God, He instantly bestowed this great gift and honor to us to become a parent :)<br />
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I'm on my 36 weeks now - the final stretch. I just started my maternity leave yesterday, and now preparing myself mentally to become a mom. Therefore, expect to hear tidbits about my pregnancy and maternity journey showing up more in this blog :)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAr3woSROakmp6jTDdxkH6FcURFhK-u6zzbH9i5OwJd3-xV2bTOxqAiBIEQCczVgxRYwxuG2HyIM2ZyMvDqVqbyE3xBgLmOokwQ0TjIMWe-6r5SkRCTomi_g92n1l2EynZlBMTvOtD0Ho/s1600/IMG_20160409_123125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAr3woSROakmp6jTDdxkH6FcURFhK-u6zzbH9i5OwJd3-xV2bTOxqAiBIEQCczVgxRYwxuG2HyIM2ZyMvDqVqbyE3xBgLmOokwQ0TjIMWe-6r5SkRCTomi_g92n1l2EynZlBMTvOtD0Ho/s320/IMG_20160409_123125.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-6026357578263394382013-08-04T19:27:00.003-07:002013-08-04T19:28:01.459-07:0015What is it with 15? Can you guess?<div>
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Well, I'm going to visit my parents in 15 more days =) I'm so thrilled and grateful at the same time. It's been almost four years since I got married and moved to the States. I've never been this far apart from my family ... and for such a long time. We are really close to each other, so it is really painful living away from home. </div>
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I can hardly wait for the trip. We started planning sometime in May and my Mom has been counting days ever since =) I look forward to spending quality time with them. I am also super excited about all the Indonesian food that I'm gonna eat. I've been craving these food for a while: </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi620v2UESmUvirYe0-J1cLtIZ-v0AgPQvJEHaPbAUJWMJo4LcN63Aoho0QSg13GCp7p22MZ2XhGrHhHtHlsU7HA0MB40_NRGrg4iU4gTJAp7pxOzINYVgET7vVPqSn6o_hH_WzEPe3Njg/s1600/akiaw.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi620v2UESmUvirYe0-J1cLtIZ-v0AgPQvJEHaPbAUJWMJo4LcN63Aoho0QSg13GCp7p22MZ2XhGrHhHtHlsU7HA0MB40_NRGrg4iU4gTJAp7pxOzINYVgET7vVPqSn6o_hH_WzEPe3Njg/s320/akiaw.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kwetiaw Akiaw Mangga Besar (image from <a href="http://www.foodspotting.com/places/247442-bakso-akiaw-99">foodspotting.com</a>)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDAhMwtJWUPEOMzFMYUUIHTOznFAXtBnfRrl0XBuUSrvq5ZDejcLd0Wm2haRsgf2Px2lzAMyPLASPUqtziG8C4W4sXtmpIV_5U6YepnV16Zij6WwLf2t9h0IVC4XRy_hdIWfKkIJvjnI/s1600/hokkian+mie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikDAhMwtJWUPEOMzFMYUUIHTOznFAXtBnfRrl0XBuUSrvq5ZDejcLd0Wm2haRsgf2Px2lzAMyPLASPUqtziG8C4W4sXtmpIV_5U6YepnV16Zij6WwLf2t9h0IVC4XRy_hdIWfKkIJvjnI/s320/hokkian+mie.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokkian Noodle (image from <a href="http://www.makanmana.net/mie-hokkien-aleng/">makanmana</a>)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwBWwgHWpS7B5UY5WxM59bHJguF4dIzyQc-2OiEWB21DWnzSnAE7Q_TtCNAGu3lmcHMj2lYsd03015vHu6yOIRVCWSgUp31YWJzdXTrhCxNYtX1hOyVraVJ1Q20Tk5EN6YqN7Pj6IjjY/s1600/sate_padang.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwBWwgHWpS7B5UY5WxM59bHJguF4dIzyQc-2OiEWB21DWnzSnAE7Q_TtCNAGu3lmcHMj2lYsd03015vHu6yOIRVCWSgUp31YWJzdXTrhCxNYtX1hOyVraVJ1Q20Tk5EN6YqN7Pj6IjjY/s320/sate_padang.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sate padang (image from AIS MIT <a href="http://web.mit.edu/ais-mit/www/recipes/sate_padang.html">website</a>)</td></tr>
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and much more! Seriously, Indonesia is a heaven for food lovers. Especially if you love spicy food. </div>
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In addition to travelling back to Indonesia, me and my husband will also visit two exciting theme parks. One is in Singapore and another one is in Hong Kong =) We are going to have so much fun!</div>
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vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-8334406095612311372013-08-01T16:23:00.001-07:002013-08-01T16:27:37.055-07:00Reminder<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hi everyone! It's been quite a while huh?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was really busy with life. So far, 2013 is quite a tough year for me. I'm struggling with uncertainties and worries. I am also trying hard to figure out God's plan in my life. Recently, I got an encouragement from my favorite radio station, K-Love. So I thought I want to share this here with you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That morning, the radio presenter was talking about keeping a diary or writing journals. I smiled because I like writing journals. She said that sometimes it's good to read back your journals, especially when you are facing a problem or when your life just feel difficult. You can see through various occasions in your past, how God's hands worked. You might felt that you were facing mountains of problems back then, but somehow God opened up a way! This could be a great encouragement... helping us to trust our current problems to God. If He was faithful in the past, He is also faithful today. He will help. He will open up a way for us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was an eye-opener for me. These past few years, I've been through a lot. And there were times when I felt that my problems were impossible to solve ... and yet again and again God showed me that nothing is impossible for Him. That moment, somehow I suddenly felt peaceful and happy. I know this time too ... as I wait for the future to unfold ... God's hands are at work. I am writing this post hoping that this can be a powerful reminder for me (or for others) in the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">More encouragements from the Bible :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."<br />Jeremiah 29:11 [NIV]<br /><br /><br /> "34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."<br />Matthew 6:34 [NIV]<br /><br /><br /> "11 He has made everything beautiful in its time."<br />Ecclesiastes 3:11a [NIV]</span>vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-1546655149440102522013-01-11T23:27:00.002-08:002013-01-12T00:01:01.846-08:00Winter Holiday and Welcoming 2013<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Happy new year everyone!! =)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I know this is a very late post. I have been really busy since the beginning of 2013. Back from our long holiday, somehow I realized that there were a lot of things that needed to be done. I really wish I have more than 24 hours a day =P</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, I would like to post pictures from our winter holiday in this first post of 2013. Let this be a wish that 2013 will be bring more opportunity to travel and spend time with loved ones =) We have a very big plan for 2013... we're crossing our fingers and hoping that everything will go well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Enjoy the pictures! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our trip started with this amazing tri-tip sandwich. This is the best sandwich I've ever eaten! This is from a restaurant called Firestone Grill located in the heart of San Lois Obispo. It was raining that day, so we didn't have much chance to explore the city.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Lj_8g4qoI3Zn6HNez-tlHGhVPIEcqIGOs6db1rSpO9Kuw1ElGmAvb7TAFZI6YSri69SlCsYEcZj9UxKjdoC144qnpqZjl5JCgZferISIXBkHotCqLPaDoVMbq_BJNP_lwebvC7X5mPM/s1600/IMG-20130109-WA021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Lj_8g4qoI3Zn6HNez-tlHGhVPIEcqIGOs6db1rSpO9Kuw1ElGmAvb7TAFZI6YSri69SlCsYEcZj9UxKjdoC144qnpqZjl5JCgZferISIXBkHotCqLPaDoVMbq_BJNP_lwebvC7X5mPM/s400/IMG-20130109-WA021.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next, we went to the beautiful San Diego. We stayed there for three days and two nights. We went to old-town San Diego and saw this hot gingerbread house made from mini Tabasco bottles.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next day we tried the so famous Phil's BBQ. We were so lucky because that day somehow there was no line! I like the baby back ribs and would love to come back =)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVkSIbpa435IVUn6rrmrzcDKWtuyXp3uG4qSbF2_Erid-L46FeYAoClWqDmhs58_1-RnhTqIuWAohpoVPYlxfr-ZbD429E_j5HSrM8aJlNfOcpurBChTqje3ViakDc6V57scZRegQu7A/s1600/IMG-20130109-WA019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZVkSIbpa435IVUn6rrmrzcDKWtuyXp3uG4qSbF2_Erid-L46FeYAoClWqDmhs58_1-RnhTqIuWAohpoVPYlxfr-ZbD429E_j5HSrM8aJlNfOcpurBChTqje3ViakDc6V57scZRegQu7A/s400/IMG-20130109-WA019.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After our tummies were full with delicious ribs, we headed to the beautiful Balboa Park. We didn't have time to explore the entire park. On my next visit, I would make sure to visit San Diego Zoo (which is inside Balboa Park).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our next destination was LA. We went to another famous place, the urban lights exhibition at LACMA. Inspired by Gossip Girl's Chuck Bass, I took this picture of my hubby =P </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While in LA, we also went to Borneo Restaurant for its yummy Hakka Noodle. I took another picture of my husband in the small garden at the back of the restaurant. I love the contrasting color of the yellow tree and the turquoise wall. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our road trip continued. Next we went to Page, Arizona, to visit Antelope Canyon. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiumPeWV7RxlFL1_fkGe9XUxBBxehzWQwHPZymyzW60K8mcN5cm1ipZINXomNMo134rwH3Z9U5tHYbVMe63pXqRIlvdOKls21WHbUKzAN9Z8UlxTjX6hzxn99-CaVKWqWNXv1JkyD4W-rs/s1600/IMG-20130109-WA018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiumPeWV7RxlFL1_fkGe9XUxBBxehzWQwHPZymyzW60K8mcN5cm1ipZINXomNMo134rwH3Z9U5tHYbVMe63pXqRIlvdOKls21WHbUKzAN9Z8UlxTjX6hzxn99-CaVKWqWNXv1JkyD4W-rs/s400/IMG-20130109-WA018.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">And Horseshoe Bend. The view was amazing. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then ... the highlight of our trip. The magnificent Bryce Canyon =)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm more a city person but I do admit that Bryce Canyon is worth visiting. It was freezing cold, but every now and then I was tempted to open my gloves and took pictures. The view was breath-taking. Everywhere you looked was picturesque.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is my favorite picture. It was taken on the path to Amphitheatre, before we were entering Bryce's hiking trail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our last stop is Vegas. As usual we did some hotel hopping, enjoying the splendor of their Christmas decoration. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">M&M World</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Crystal - Luxury Shopping Mall</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Bellagio Hotel</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The Venetian</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">and Wynn Encore</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How about your winter break? I hope all of you enjoy the holiday surrounded with family and loved ones. Again, happy new year!! =)</span>vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-76881942807738264492012-12-21T11:21:00.002-08:002012-12-21T11:22:07.858-08:00We are 3!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yesterday, we celebrated our third anniversary =) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Time flies. I can still remember the excitement that I had on our wedding day. I was also super nervous. One of my biggest worry that day was to trip over my dress when I walked to the front of the reception room. Thankfully, that worry didn't turn into reality.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w4DVPQ0Qdw8/UNSn00OL7rI/AAAAAAAAB4k/aHDWkuw0d8s/s1600/wedding1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w4DVPQ0Qdw8/UNSn00OL7rI/AAAAAAAAB4k/aHDWkuw0d8s/s320/wedding1.jpg" width="219" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Fast forward three years, and here we are now. We've been through a lot these past three years. Both of us feel like we have been married for ages!! Not in a bad way though =)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We don't have any special plan celebrating our anniversary. We usually just go out and have dinner. This year we did the same thing. However, from year to year, the restaurants change. We choose restaurant mostly based on the food, and not the ambiance. I know ... both of us are somehow not that romantic =P To be honest, this time I was actually thinking of celebrating our anniversary in Texas Road House (which is a very casual steak house if you don't know, with blaring cowboy music and peanut skins on the ground). But my husband vetoed that down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the end, we went to Santana Row for dinner. We decided to eat at one of the Italian Restaurant. Yup, finally we're going for ambiance this year =P</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was almost a bad idea though. This time of the year, Santana Row is super crowded. We had to park a few blocks away and walk. To make it worse, we didn't make reservation. We went to two restaurants and the waiting time for a table of two at those restaurants were an hour and a half! Since we had to wait anyway, we finally agreed to try Maggiano's Little Italy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good thing the wait was worth it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Please excuse the picture quality. It was kinda dark in that restaurant. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We had a set menu for two people. So we got to chose one appetizer (or one flatbread or two side salads), two classic pasta entree, and a dessert to share. These were what we chose:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Stuffed Mushrooms for appetizer. Mushroom filled with spinach and breadcrumbs, served in garlic white wine sauce. Despite the look, this dish was amazing! I think this was my favorite for the night. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIt4d6BR9HDNb9DsuNIzSnWexdxzma0BIHrHLXy7NJF3sKG5MWBEsQbnoQmfkYPIwxPoFEVCVqjfyta9LnS35e01oFv627Ro2wH_pRZ1eJortON3t7__luu0mMhHg6vC9unzGZpe6U9x0/s1600/pasta1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIt4d6BR9HDNb9DsuNIzSnWexdxzma0BIHrHLXy7NJF3sKG5MWBEsQbnoQmfkYPIwxPoFEVCVqjfyta9LnS35e01oFv627Ro2wH_pRZ1eJortON3t7__luu0mMhHg6vC9unzGZpe6U9x0/s400/pasta1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My husband chose Fettuccine Alfredo, which was basically a plain pasta and cream sauce. He requested the Fettuccine to be changed into Linguine btw. It was just okay. My pasta was Taylor Street Baked Ziti as pictured above. The sauce was a mix of italian sausage, pomodoro, and cheese. </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next came the dessert. We chose New York Style Cheesecake which comes with seasonal fruits. This time the fruit was blueberry. This was the highlight of our dinner for my husband. He loves the cheesecake. He even said that this was better than Cheesecake Factory's Ultimate Red Velvet. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykyWjsK9_JM_Rah8-KF9tf2D7C75uAfkeeEVHhI_ZbBhveL8gG42gj0uyI2LqDHgB0keRT45tmA1tKyE2OPM64JO71gu0BzQSUKi06wxcI5eXbcSanzh8b6RFAIUBagG0_OevdPy6Kh4/s1600/Cheesecake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhykyWjsK9_JM_Rah8-KF9tf2D7C75uAfkeeEVHhI_ZbBhveL8gG42gj0uyI2LqDHgB0keRT45tmA1tKyE2OPM64JO71gu0BzQSUKi06wxcI5eXbcSanzh8b6RFAIUBagG0_OevdPy6Kh4/s400/Cheesecake.jpg" width="325" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, was it a romantic dinner? Hmm.. the ambiance was not as good as we think. Yes, the decoration was beautiful. The service was good. The food was okay, but the two people package was really worth it. However, it was too noisy and crowded for my taste =P</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Still, we did have a good time together and that was the most important thing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am truly grateful to God for sending this wonderful man into my life. He's not just a husband for me... he's my partner in life, my other half. It is a great comfort for me, knowing that whatever life might bring, I will face it together with him. I pray that our love for each other will continue to grow daily. I also pray that God will continue blessing our marriage so that we can be a blessing for others around us. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dear husband, cheers for more years ahead!! </span></div>
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vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-9490253668625754382012-12-12T22:11:00.003-08:002012-12-12T22:20:16.286-08:00My LOFT Haul<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ever since Black Friday, I have been monitoring my favorite store intently =P If you do not know, my favorite store is Ann Taylor LOFT. Their collections are very petite friendly. Anyway, on their current holiday / winter collection, they have a few cute sweaters that I adore. After waiting for around 3 weeks, it seems that the lowest price for the particular sweater that I want is $25. And ... I missed that sale because I was waiting for the price to go down lower.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, today I noticed that they have the exact same sale again for that item. I went to LOFT store, but they didn't have the color that I want in my size. So I have to buy it online.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Turns out, I was super lucky today. On top of the current sale that they have, I managed to get another coupon that give 25% discount for that particular sweater. I finally got that sweater for $20! I also bought two other items that I have been eyeing this whole time.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petite Kitten Print 3/4 Sleeve Cardigan $16 (after double discount) - pictures taken from www.loft.com</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMt22KSvZardbhPhHao9Wusnnz8bVdxTPyf1wECxmqIUQJX2hkdr8TP6Zwv8GdMMCs7e8T63XzCEa0-1SZtnwYam5J3_3xZB_XRqIl5z4c4zeoDjArVb1rT9nxHSjh3ju6sVXeTzQDsc/s1600/royal+blue+marisa+scuba+pants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMt22KSvZardbhPhHao9Wusnnz8bVdxTPyf1wECxmqIUQJX2hkdr8TP6Zwv8GdMMCs7e8T63XzCEa0-1SZtnwYam5J3_3xZB_XRqIl5z4c4zeoDjArVb1rT9nxHSjh3ju6sVXeTzQDsc/s400/royal+blue+marisa+scuba+pants.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petite Marisa Straight Leg Pants in LOFT Scuba - Royal Blue $22 - pictures taken from www.loft.com</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4nxvxvaRss3nGkeBWmoiYxSDBNIMwEplkdXr_FbSDbGqH2TrVd-ao34e0ZJ9uSsssfzL5zw-p8Q91FbpSHHvVGxShK-QbCWYfQ9OQ-DLtVVIHexo6X-9VoYBF2ePpqfWJIfsSKUiGJs/s1600/sweater1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhg4nxvxvaRss3nGkeBWmoiYxSDBNIMwEplkdXr_FbSDbGqH2TrVd-ao34e0ZJ9uSsssfzL5zw-p8Q91FbpSHHvVGxShK-QbCWYfQ9OQ-DLtVVIHexo6X-9VoYBF2ePpqfWJIfsSKUiGJs/s400/sweater1.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petite Stripped Cozy Cable Sweater $20 (after double discount) - picture taken from www.loft.com</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'm super happy for getting those cute pieces in bargain prices! =D</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Btw, I don't know if you are familiar with Ebates. For those of you who often do online shopping, please check out Ebates. You can get cash back for your online purchase with stores that are registered on Ebates.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As an example, currently Ebates has 9% cash back for Sears and 6% cash back for Toys R Us.If you want to sign up for Ebates, you can click on this link below:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<a href="http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=ZuYCy84RlgfDGiPz8CzPcg%3D%3D&eeid=23552"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=ZuYCy84RlgfDGiPz8CzPcg%3D%3D&eeid=23552</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I hope you find this information useful. Happy holiday shopping everyone!</span><br />
<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-28684516597906310112012-12-06T21:57:00.000-08:002012-12-12T22:16:56.442-08:00November in Pictures<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's been a while since my last post. I can hardly believe that we're already in December. This post will be a quick recount of November. So here it is, my November in pictures. Enjoy!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">My husband and I went with a couple of friends to Santana Row's Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. They had quite a few of live performance like ballet dance, A Capella choir, and this young singer from American Idol - Deandre Brackensick. No wonder Santana Row was very crowded that day. We almost couldn't find parking. Also because of the crowd, we couldn't take any decent picture of the performance. However, my husband did manage to snap this picture of the American Idol singer after his performance.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJIuWYSQjj6JPmAo-UcPhvkxe2A7lgWjtfjwjhOF7WWZnH3duEMZ-84yotQgCnmChK7ehVDQ4lTEEL1Uzi4vpJjl2AcyOZsZs1VOpuuwROOKks9CkvFNeQrQ3do2ACpzmvLebCumClpPY/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJIuWYSQjj6JPmAo-UcPhvkxe2A7lgWjtfjwjhOF7WWZnH3duEMZ-84yotQgCnmChK7ehVDQ4lTEEL1Uzi4vpJjl2AcyOZsZs1VOpuuwROOKks9CkvFNeQrQ3do2ACpzmvLebCumClpPY/s320/IMG-20121202-WA012.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Deandre Brackensick</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After the ceremony, which only lasted around an hour or so, we went to a nearby Chili's for dinner. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">That day I decided to try dry rub ribs. It looked really good on the menu. However, it was a little bit too dry for my taste =P Fortunately, I asked for BBQ sauce on the side for dipping. The Cajun Chicken Pasta on the other hand, was really good.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Kj88Qj9WbyJB5OQJihRn5gR55I6JpMrvBGJmE0Cayos0o8P1qh00a23cxAwGCy6F0c_LuodMjJibE6-dOCFSjhns-IwZABYph1cRUAATkkYqMstGkkY9JEa0mgJ1X3-Q8ifaf0K5Rlw/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Kj88Qj9WbyJB5OQJihRn5gR55I6JpMrvBGJmE0Cayos0o8P1qh00a23cxAwGCy6F0c_LuodMjJibE6-dOCFSjhns-IwZABYph1cRUAATkkYqMstGkkY9JEa0mgJ1X3-Q8ifaf0K5Rlw/s320/IMG-20121202-WA004.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Cajun Chicken Pasta @ Chili's</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKC3wFnxBUyUQmn2nUOs3m5hEBgagQ8K9SX5JSWgYw_gJ7bvdzaV-dK31xtqajMQSlVWmGfThYx12k1gtdCkUEnoKblrW-nUWsp41VxpTNnuSaUv3mSGfJ3W3tBdSquZSBUDUVXvNy72Y/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKC3wFnxBUyUQmn2nUOs3m5hEBgagQ8K9SX5JSWgYw_gJ7bvdzaV-dK31xtqajMQSlVWmGfThYx12k1gtdCkUEnoKblrW-nUWsp41VxpTNnuSaUv3mSGfJ3W3tBdSquZSBUDUVXvNy72Y/s320/IMG-20121202-WA008.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Half Rack of Baby Back Ribs in Memphis Dry Rub</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Talking about food, on one weekend night in November, I suddenly craved pancake! So we went to IHOP =)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0S2CoWEWh-PpPzjUkqIEIBISneuY8iQ5ykSlTC6w4hnKUkTkX1eKEug7AV2JwblbzeFsQpvKZPYAupfOMZ57hZ5Exk-c_pepcUEa6it-BdMuzZaiP6blfG-3RaEVSerSNAGLOrL_ZKOU/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0S2CoWEWh-PpPzjUkqIEIBISneuY8iQ5ykSlTC6w4hnKUkTkX1eKEug7AV2JwblbzeFsQpvKZPYAupfOMZ57hZ5Exk-c_pepcUEa6it-BdMuzZaiP6blfG-3RaEVSerSNAGLOrL_ZKOU/s320/IMG-20121202-WA007.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYqL2s3AEEG3WL3tlnPm1sZKRKVqSvDtVQXV0IESOBzJaFGSvTdgyHI15wDO1TtipaKYgHVMFhw_59BJxI825dXjPO9uyxbFHRoWVZqrAkqvkVOFmP-qzDGIKPpMmd_NMAr5qidsDHy0/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuYqL2s3AEEG3WL3tlnPm1sZKRKVqSvDtVQXV0IESOBzJaFGSvTdgyHI15wDO1TtipaKYgHVMFhw_59BJxI825dXjPO9uyxbFHRoWVZqrAkqvkVOFmP-qzDGIKPpMmd_NMAr5qidsDHy0/s320/IMG-20121202-WA010.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">New York Style Pancake</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAUc8HL0O5mB2wDjKDplroHXdEwHt4dlFDe8ausnC0HYUe_ncbrRDuxrbLSxagRDjy7XRMcudLXDVCb58A5fSlJL7dWnCy0uYvqVd141Ys9rNjVcadkJQsfbuj3UMk4Hk_QQDxZEfAGQ/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTAUc8HL0O5mB2wDjKDplroHXdEwHt4dlFDe8ausnC0HYUe_ncbrRDuxrbLSxagRDjy7XRMcudLXDVCb58A5fSlJL7dWnCy0uYvqVd141Ys9rNjVcadkJQsfbuj3UMk4Hk_QQDxZEfAGQ/s320/IMG-20121202-WA011.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Steak Omelette - my Hubby's fav</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Good food ... and yummy hot chocolate =)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMq07GB1W-AnCXEu8BG4rEoR7Ftv5xuoIPh4i4z6t6g8Nn0u0yORav3yOCFaf1Z52aWAnoou8WGx-KN6CmVmKtDdsalwCVhg6w_AAuNRv7aAfT84W81AI4BrssBsga_yUR10rfECi_HCg/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMq07GB1W-AnCXEu8BG4rEoR7Ftv5xuoIPh4i4z6t6g8Nn0u0yORav3yOCFaf1Z52aWAnoou8WGx-KN6CmVmKtDdsalwCVhg6w_AAuNRv7aAfT84W81AI4BrssBsga_yUR10rfECi_HCg/s320/IMG-20121202-WA009.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">OK, enough food talk. Going back to holiday atmosphere here in the U.S.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even before Thanksgiving passed, Christmas decoration was all over Santana Row. When we went to Valley fair for Black Friday Shopping on Thanksgiving night, we walked passed Santana Row. It was very pretty! I can't help myself from taking pictures.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUF8qmWBSR_g1G1Wn6C3su8443stEvAKmiDpKgFLAoSpGgPREwTHyT_omdjYU6atZZvLd9_88kt1PdDOWaERHNijcSmQ7uDdmCQl7Pk4Fte44GoGJFq1pg-i6kErUVpz9naP65_iXSTro/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUF8qmWBSR_g1G1Wn6C3su8443stEvAKmiDpKgFLAoSpGgPREwTHyT_omdjYU6atZZvLd9_88kt1PdDOWaERHNijcSmQ7uDdmCQl7Pk4Fte44GoGJFq1pg-i6kErUVpz9naP65_iXSTro/s320/IMG-20121202-WA000.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMol42XMfL3kqjABBMpSiOTd2Lx5sBcs2XV4CdbdFaGovJr9MQ5E99lir00UOZzPsSHVSXvaPVRBi2JdNbDU0IawMBbtFWHuJgBjIxvcIIq5F1weA8dzrvDRG9pMOSPT5ScBDcRQ3JuU/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMol42XMfL3kqjABBMpSiOTd2Lx5sBcs2XV4CdbdFaGovJr9MQ5E99lir00UOZzPsSHVSXvaPVRBi2JdNbDU0IawMBbtFWHuJgBjIxvcIIq5F1weA8dzrvDRG9pMOSPT5ScBDcRQ3JuU/s320/IMG-20121202-WA001.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is one silly shot of me and my friends on Black Friday midnight shopping madness =P</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7CXkRY364yFxz13eKwKhFbz0yjy9jryMvrwmVNAt8YxDXJsZj333yTFHESmG2V73pZ6e2cJ0mcMX8MnkfaL8mMwXzeYX96ciSXCVDgJ6SC8BZMpugreHxDidMbycOPt79idc4nnzJGQ/s1600/IMG-20121122-WA008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw7CXkRY364yFxz13eKwKhFbz0yjy9jryMvrwmVNAt8YxDXJsZj333yTFHESmG2V73pZ6e2cJ0mcMX8MnkfaL8mMwXzeYX96ciSXCVDgJ6SC8BZMpugreHxDidMbycOPt79idc4nnzJGQ/s320/IMG-20121122-WA008.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photo courtesy of Miss Kristani</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next day, I went back to Santana Row for unfinished Black Friday shopping ... and photo session =P</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNfGy1EEnQzHn4jsslcRugTN5kkN3-Hb7kMr0Qi0ypPyMWj0h8hgBtTBCEPtMqiwjPcXRr2VXvMnvim40zjnQkF84qbYXAegfVPkx6p9VO3FpJK_Ckyi1h4HG43lFG0WcuXtc-KhbnjBQ/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNfGy1EEnQzHn4jsslcRugTN5kkN3-Hb7kMr0Qi0ypPyMWj0h8hgBtTBCEPtMqiwjPcXRr2VXvMnvim40zjnQkF84qbYXAegfVPkx6p9VO3FpJK_Ckyi1h4HG43lFG0WcuXtc-KhbnjBQ/s320/IMG-20121202-WA002.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80Y8901nmjD51SFTb7OdnDjTn5d8MwEekvLsuM7eLOeHPD1jpdLPxYC1_O-2wmL2FUPtQvx_T9-s7_8t5tJsNc0CQVLC-Qr_KrYkFWnJA3xVPEW2ryFqzFxsxZpI1Y_-ZYc4sTLnuvng/s1600/IMG-20121202-WA005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg80Y8901nmjD51SFTb7OdnDjTn5d8MwEekvLsuM7eLOeHPD1jpdLPxYC1_O-2wmL2FUPtQvx_T9-s7_8t5tJsNc0CQVLC-Qr_KrYkFWnJA3xVPEW2ryFqzFxsxZpI1Y_-ZYc4sTLnuvng/s320/IMG-20121202-WA005.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oops, I almost forget about our Chinese style Thanksgiving dinner. We're celebrating a friend's birthday, plus house warming, plus thanksgiving, with bird from the far east. It was more like Chinese New Year's dinner than a Thanksgiving dinner =P I want a traditional Thanksgiving feast next year!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDskvxveT7aQ8KTodDft7EVoNOGwGdmnm6nTzrN5mfvzwb_lE_8LSa1PJ1vAKigjXd17LGrr-2rEXM0-_KJLTe111lkXGlbQQY0pKTqaIa3-IyNNibsfFxPf5ccnyanRlBo7uLLe9yno/s1600/IMG-20121121-WA000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvDskvxveT7aQ8KTodDft7EVoNOGwGdmnm6nTzrN5mfvzwb_lE_8LSa1PJ1vAKigjXd17LGrr-2rEXM0-_KJLTe111lkXGlbQQY0pKTqaIa3-IyNNibsfFxPf5ccnyanRlBo7uLLe9yno/s320/IMG-20121121-WA000.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Group photo with the birthday girl =)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdnj9BkxTdTOAaiB6AWpkPXebyvi4VA2ZbUMO-q8vTIfVpfJw-XeFf9kk17xNUklqymHU2D7uV92OnaEbxMNZD7L7M8Ha-u6W9YTYh7kJqiTxe79AYJiMBICx_kpg-ayELttYUvR3v4VQ/s1600/IMG-20121121-WA002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdnj9BkxTdTOAaiB6AWpkPXebyvi4VA2ZbUMO-q8vTIfVpfJw-XeFf9kk17xNUklqymHU2D7uV92OnaEbxMNZD7L7M8Ha-u6W9YTYh7kJqiTxe79AYJiMBICx_kpg-ayELttYUvR3v4VQ/s320/IMG-20121121-WA002.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So how's your Thanksgiving folks? I hope you had a good one =)</span></div>
vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-60806929945637315232012-11-15T21:32:00.004-08:002012-12-12T22:17:03.292-08:00Through the Years<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another late post =P</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are tons of reason why I love November. I think I wrote about this in my November post last year... Hmm. Anyway, one of them is because this was the month when I first saw my "prince charming." And guess what, this is also his birth month!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I want to take a quick stroll down to my memory lane... A lot has happened since I first met him. My life changed upside down. Not that I complain =) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">First birthday together. I made his birthday cake, with the help of my Mom. I think he was quite surprised.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOecJLmj4qM9ui-tRuXVxpgzXCWVrxbTyrWtR7NyLI2rY0_J0BZ7Gb1gZ2ArWRhS2-VNdzdvbYkBkjP7498JEO-FbyDO9h2m8tFCTeG-4uE_FmwHdu3AM3T2WQz_o2ND4HTNBbud8D5JY/s1600/2009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOecJLmj4qM9ui-tRuXVxpgzXCWVrxbTyrWtR7NyLI2rY0_J0BZ7Gb1gZ2ArWRhS2-VNdzdvbYkBkjP7498JEO-FbyDO9h2m8tFCTeG-4uE_FmwHdu3AM3T2WQz_o2ND4HTNBbud8D5JY/s320/2009.jpg" width="207" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Later that day we celebrated his birthday at Grand Indonesia (a very pretty Mall in Jakarta, Indonesia). I remember the Mall was just opened back then. It instantly became the most "stylish" place to hang-out. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Ah, back then I was so skinny *sigh* Anyway, I missed his 30th birthday because he was in the US while I was still in Jakarta. I somehow also do not have any picture of his 31st birthday :( But I think we celebrated it with friends. Maybe we combined the celebration with our civil ceremony... </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5XruWoRkdokdMEcnmfdpcPu5PsND93bHCyalH3fYDTgSzHcq57yQaegXJ7NDEYV60ZZ8BnLhgEsqlX8nUm2BLE9lCGGFsaOXIExcf45fUSiUj3BtKDUWGU0YhxRKOoVxht1UYhwrA_4/s1600/2010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5XruWoRkdokdMEcnmfdpcPu5PsND93bHCyalH3fYDTgSzHcq57yQaegXJ7NDEYV60ZZ8BnLhgEsqlX8nUm2BLE9lCGGFsaOXIExcf45fUSiUj3BtKDUWGU0YhxRKOoVxht1UYhwrA_4/s320/2010.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As you can see ... I'm getting fatter *sigh* Now I know, not all trip down on the memory lane is pleasing =P Move on with the birthday. This was his 32nd birthday celebration. We have just moved to our tiny little apartment.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6IkGOiBteMK9wz_Sf4vFcH8_Qho9FbBkdUJt6gp7GdQmYDQOmGRqs4GIKu5yOUn3YW4sr6gQRGPRCrM7fa2R3fIuHermzrXM67QfTumDLBMJgbW1QvAe__a5h2jfdZBMMwOoHwIdPzM/s1600/2011-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY6IkGOiBteMK9wz_Sf4vFcH8_Qho9FbBkdUJt6gp7GdQmYDQOmGRqs4GIKu5yOUn3YW4sr6gQRGPRCrM7fa2R3fIuHermzrXM67QfTumDLBMJgbW1QvAe__a5h2jfdZBMMwOoHwIdPzM/s320/2011-1.jpg" width="236" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It was another combined celebration. Birthday + House Warming. I got tons of help from friends in setting up the supposed-to-be-surprise celebration. Btw, that cute little girl is my niece =)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another picture with friends... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, what did we do this year?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was never good with planning surprises. So, we just had a normal birthday celebration. Dinner for the two of us at Gyukaku followed by celebration with close friends. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I love the restaurant, and would love to come back there. We ordered tons of food, more than enough for the two of us actually. Well, lesson learned. Next time, we would only ordered dishes that we love like the garlic noodle, Harami skirt steak, and fatty toro =)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We have a lot of friends here who share the same birth week with my hubby. That means, combined birthday party :) One of our close friend has a birthday that is just three days apart from my hubby. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Birthday celebrations are fun! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dear hubby,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As God adds another year in your life, I prayed that He will bless you with wisdom, health, success and happiness. Happy birthday dearest one!</span><br />
<br />vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-16437726617428909222012-11-07T22:49:00.004-08:002012-11-07T23:02:07.120-08:00LA Weekend Trip - October 2012<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two weeks ago, we had a short weekend trip to LA to attend our friends' wedding party. We went there with quite a few of good friends. We rented two mini-vans and three hotel rooms to accommodate all 12 of us. It was a fun, but nevertheless very tiring trip. My husband was sick the day after we got back to San Jose. I quickly followed =( We took medication and actually are getting better by now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, forget the sad story and let's move on to the detail of our trip.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On Friday, we departed from San Jose around 6 PM-ish. Fortunately, the traffic was good. We made a quick dinner stop at Gilroy Premium Outlet. Too bad, I didn't have time to check any shop =P We arrived around 11.30 PM at our hotel near LAX area. This time, we stayed at Courtyard by Marriott. Personally, I wasn't very satisfied with the hotel. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our rooms weren't close to each other. Some were located in the left wing while others were in the right wing. To go to the other wing, we have to go through the lobby in the main floor. To make it worse, our rooms were in the second and third floor. So we had to take elevator to go down to lobby and then another elevator at the other wing to get to the other rooms. After going back and forth, we finally settled down for the night. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next morning, we went for an early lunch. For me, personally, a trip to LA is never complete without Indonesian foods =) That morning we decided to go to an Indonesian restaurant called Kalimantan (or Borneo). We ate scrumptious Indonesian noodles and other Indonesian dishes. The noodles were super good, and it truly reminded me of home. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxmuSTdvNSvrokl_Gt3eZKEGqS2L04IcPJRt96Uah8skDMhJRZ52dsmK0NkpPOMoN4ua9YsmHUGHOsHI2NFU3AarvtOSTpJmtB4gLvky3pfRm4S6C8OmBiiGrS-pKkJIHyQTmzQQQKfw/s1600/IMG-20121105-WA012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxmuSTdvNSvrokl_Gt3eZKEGqS2L04IcPJRt96Uah8skDMhJRZ52dsmK0NkpPOMoN4ua9YsmHUGHOsHI2NFU3AarvtOSTpJmtB4gLvky3pfRm4S6C8OmBiiGrS-pKkJIHyQTmzQQQKfw/s320/IMG-20121105-WA012.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Mie Hakka</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hBrBNeer56uEpdPb9GqRerxYhavndpjv8nmIv6blNfEloFreJatSsCWxe-eoPDp5BcMIqd_Dw3lmNbq-9tUOS0Ch2fGhHHNVJkzZCp6ulO7Rwu7mfWjaaFqSZRePVLKZaHCwuHfPTsU/s1600/IMG-20121105-WA013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hBrBNeer56uEpdPb9GqRerxYhavndpjv8nmIv6blNfEloFreJatSsCWxe-eoPDp5BcMIqd_Dw3lmNbq-9tUOS0Ch2fGhHHNVJkzZCp6ulO7Rwu7mfWjaaFqSZRePVLKZaHCwuHfPTsU/s320/IMG-20121105-WA013.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hubby enjoyed his noodle</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaF5Bv1u_vDCGVso2-mfCUAzt-1P7ZGWSnILC_c5QeiNuysIGrzihJCalRxwiFE2tfenWUE6U868ZMMBbgEOhrl0kVtZRvpQk-BW_dnvR6SmD6Nuevp5SGDLCxwQD9xbqtObh-Jl4l88/s1600/IMG-20121105-WA011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDaF5Bv1u_vDCGVso2-mfCUAzt-1P7ZGWSnILC_c5QeiNuysIGrzihJCalRxwiFE2tfenWUE6U868ZMMBbgEOhrl0kVtZRvpQk-BW_dnvR6SmD6Nuevp5SGDLCxwQD9xbqtObh-Jl4l88/s320/IMG-20121105-WA011.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> Kwetiaw Goreng </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Next to the restaurant was a small garden with fountain. We couldn't resist the urge to take picture =P</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love this candid shoot of us walking to the parking lot =)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After lunch we went to the nearby Half & Half for dessert. I love their taro milk tea with honey boba. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They have irregular sizing. Their regular one is the stumpy one in the middle. Volume wise, it is pretty big. Too bad it couldn't fit into car's regular cup holders.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXl8QHYF5uvNoRqUJ8zssbkRwOWqsYtYM8FZ-Kt1VFKoBlsVG31Bm7ZyMR2xhJ4I4JRU0wix0eqNdja6KP3aiPCaQEzZu8Qovs29n-nkW-Sa4RhuGS8qS8oBlyhUSxikCu5rOL2i8ksA/s1600/IMG-20121105-WA009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXl8QHYF5uvNoRqUJ8zssbkRwOWqsYtYM8FZ-Kt1VFKoBlsVG31Bm7ZyMR2xhJ4I4JRU0wix0eqNdja6KP3aiPCaQEzZu8Qovs29n-nkW-Sa4RhuGS8qS8oBlyhUSxikCu5rOL2i8ksA/s320/IMG-20121105-WA009.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Afterward, we rushed back to the hotel to get ready for the afternoon wedding. When we were getting ready, we realized that our hotel actually lacked mirror (big time!). It was already difficult for 4 ladies to get ready for a wedding party in such a short time. Even worse, we have to cram in one corner of the bathroom because our one and only mirror was there =( Nevertheless, we managed to get ready ... although we were a little bit late =P</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPtXuUyIxCUgQ9moU8SQA0_YOo20CTGScKviGK5o9M4jiHs0gtVcicgiOMtf-DZfw5n9Mw_Pd05_Cxf0eTIPdxt9247y6aopFK2NVSYbNQ4_ugMjeye3ZTQbWZZlL50yv8XuNjBl_zJvo/s1600/wedding1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPtXuUyIxCUgQ9moU8SQA0_YOo20CTGScKviGK5o9M4jiHs0gtVcicgiOMtf-DZfw5n9Mw_Pd05_Cxf0eTIPdxt9247y6aopFK2NVSYbNQ4_ugMjeye3ZTQbWZZlL50yv8XuNjBl_zJvo/s400/wedding1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">don't we all look pretty? =)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYbE1j9yGMMbXfV8FJPDY6WkWHZDmovy_c8WARCET5r_p63BIwZxGK7eLjOYEfSpNUQY7q0VMNxZOKqRtTGWsxEmBhcQ3yBYl6tnZS6jomcyfSd_KPfupNL6e2Uec8A7PfiXK8L145kE/s1600/wedding2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheYbE1j9yGMMbXfV8FJPDY6WkWHZDmovy_c8WARCET5r_p63BIwZxGK7eLjOYEfSpNUQY7q0VMNxZOKqRtTGWsxEmBhcQ3yBYl6tnZS6jomcyfSd_KPfupNL6e2Uec8A7PfiXK8L145kE/s400/wedding2.jpg" width="275" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With my pretty doctor friend =)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLAcajrdXvRDqp_S-KP2zfOEpcugY-VT-ZCJxHs8La4EI6SXYLeCOkudXVib6B1ToMUSIvvynIaGd4TrOl6luaDKuDg7zR6zXUWVnZAFCyRf6_VHE7-buLtzg2POzVr-0O9iWM2I1qbQ/s1600/wedding3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxLAcajrdXvRDqp_S-KP2zfOEpcugY-VT-ZCJxHs8La4EI6SXYLeCOkudXVib6B1ToMUSIvvynIaGd4TrOl6luaDKuDg7zR6zXUWVnZAFCyRf6_VHE7-buLtzg2POzVr-0O9iWM2I1qbQ/s400/wedding3.jpg" width="275" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hubby and I </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjec2AJ5h9mScdm3iv5ZVrjNf5sR7qNB9LyK2OP3aDVps4e4XscZByxky-IUmTpFn097McbXIOu5Tr23IBn8FLGmK-bMDvbRII_FYyiBfry15EfG6JV8c9GByBrthDCR2uXyHAARo1NyAo/s1600/IMG-20121105-WA005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjec2AJ5h9mScdm3iv5ZVrjNf5sR7qNB9LyK2OP3aDVps4e4XscZByxky-IUmTpFn097McbXIOu5Tr23IBn8FLGmK-bMDvbRII_FYyiBfry15EfG6JV8c9GByBrthDCR2uXyHAARo1NyAo/s320/IMG-20121105-WA005.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Me and my personal beauty guru <3</span></td></tr>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">After the wedding reception, we decided to make a quick visit to the lamps outside of LACMA. Too bad there was a big event that night. Suddenly, my hubby turned into an instant paparazzi. He eagerly stood behind the crowd with his phone, trying to catch a glimpse of the celebrities. Unfortunately, he didn't get any clear shot of the celebrities.</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK88JA8WcFyhkHszH0wCtrZ71yOVEvQLy_8O-CFDiD84CXkjhfdyHkoxZxgw8u8pSIrO8w7Mfz6fLh0s9NPbhPWCBAfXOwvJ2cnKkloo9xlHM4RICbtw-NMN93lC0ajt6GaEK0a4dJg2I/s1600/IMG-20121105-WA004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK88JA8WcFyhkHszH0wCtrZ71yOVEvQLy_8O-CFDiD84CXkjhfdyHkoxZxgw8u8pSIrO8w7Mfz6fLh0s9NPbhPWCBAfXOwvJ2cnKkloo9xlHM4RICbtw-NMN93lC0ajt6GaEK0a4dJg2I/s320/IMG-20121105-WA004.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before we left, I insisted on taking a picture with the beautiful lamps. We couldn't get any closer to the lamps so I had to settle for this one grainy and dark shot *sigh*</span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8nFF2Umt7IHZ5tQyDb5dV9h0XRpuVe7mJqZ_VJ5YtkfXNEkzHgZ9bZNYfKFfiEN6kegZPLb7VKpJK_jTQJVGLLdF2N3E9Gs6tD1Oc1BLCldB_qeY17GJjKZXm-o8lMAqVhn4BjSYczY/s1600/IMG-20121105-WA003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk8nFF2Umt7IHZ5tQyDb5dV9h0XRpuVe7mJqZ_VJ5YtkfXNEkzHgZ9bZNYfKFfiEN6kegZPLb7VKpJK_jTQJVGLLdF2N3E9Gs6tD1Oc1BLCldB_qeY17GJjKZXm-o8lMAqVhn4BjSYczY/s320/IMG-20121105-WA003.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unsatisfied with our LACMA experience, we decided to visit an ice cream shop nearby. From what i heard, the ice cream place was pretty famous for its ice cream sandwich. Unfortunately, i'm not a cookie person ... so instead we got a cup of regular ice cream. To our surprise, the price was pretty decent. I was quite happy with my ice cream until I found out that it was actually Dreyer's. I'm not saying that Dreyer's ice cream is not good ... It's just that I can go to Safeway for it and not this particular ice cream place.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4XA1ltCGU_HN0mLP8EkMq6w7MhaHnW7rJnxtRdWGWzqWbpWHME95Fn_1gfuzSye8DC30INJOSvikPwIN3bUlWXm4jlQSiYv5PCDTZ5-SJEPuRhwUlW-sMcLPLw0nJxUhoQzPI3aaryMg/s1600/IMG-20121105-WA002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4XA1ltCGU_HN0mLP8EkMq6w7MhaHnW7rJnxtRdWGWzqWbpWHME95Fn_1gfuzSye8DC30INJOSvikPwIN3bUlWXm4jlQSiYv5PCDTZ5-SJEPuRhwUlW-sMcLPLw0nJxUhoQzPI3aaryMg/s320/IMG-20121105-WA002.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rocky Road ... no wonder the taste is so familiar =P</span></td></tr>
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<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The next morning, as expected, we woke up pretty late. We checked out from the hotel and headed to Momiji, a sushi place in Duarte. The owners are Indonesian. We heard that their food are good ... well, for me it was fantastic! The portion is good, and the price is cheap considering its quality. What amazed me the most was its sashimi. I'm usually indifferent with sashimi, but theirs was remarkable. I could feel that the fish were really fresh. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPbHe1k5scFBtV9djjB5gH2llKw_LZRIh9aB_aKaRKnNkuDW3ebhxHXyouSLC02ZKhi9vrCxhaU6kXnNoJpbgQFNst92-PtuGwXIM7B9jZD7HZqgQh-mpu1ITRP8mwjY3wjdisTX1I8Y/s1600/IMG-20121105-WA001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuPbHe1k5scFBtV9djjB5gH2llKw_LZRIh9aB_aKaRKnNkuDW3ebhxHXyouSLC02ZKhi9vrCxhaU6kXnNoJpbgQFNst92-PtuGwXIM7B9jZD7HZqgQh-mpu1ITRP8mwjY3wjdisTX1I8Y/s320/IMG-20121105-WA001.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Amazing Yellowtail Yuzu</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">They have plenty variation of rolls too. My favorite is Mikey's Lobster Roll. It was out of this world! Seriously. They generously put tons of fried lobster chunk on top of that roll. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyqfIsfyo2cov1pYQ_aEJ66G3XPobi_b13cCX8-uaqbRCZV32b6iw6I-t4fOATuJKl5xvycM7BpM7t1kw3uvMRPEpa-Jk4W_HVckcgzTfvSnr7L2kv0fQiXy6v2RDsVG1hGhGloVHYXE/s1600/IMG-20121107-WA007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcyqfIsfyo2cov1pYQ_aEJ66G3XPobi_b13cCX8-uaqbRCZV32b6iw6I-t4fOATuJKl5xvycM7BpM7t1kw3uvMRPEpa-Jk4W_HVckcgzTfvSnr7L2kv0fQiXy6v2RDsVG1hGhGloVHYXE/s320/IMG-20121107-WA007.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mikey's Lobster Roll</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you're ever in Duarte, LA, please do yourself a favor and visit Momiji. Ask the friendly waiter for recommendation, they have a lot of "secret" menu =) More pictures of the food. Oops, I'm suddenly hungry =P </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2j8AUPxXiC4yLC2HGhs9vigEELhV3P_3Qdnnw4ALR7DcaCDmaj5OQHpudzV1qPmeB61f8uvVY7X_WrJNZSu3kJDthUmuQH5LJ4dxMP-mgirILdAE3tSiB7e_WwvOW0Igl0VM0tNrYyY/s1600/IMG-20121107-WA009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz2j8AUPxXiC4yLC2HGhs9vigEELhV3P_3Qdnnw4ALR7DcaCDmaj5OQHpudzV1qPmeB61f8uvVY7X_WrJNZSu3kJDthUmuQH5LJ4dxMP-mgirILdAE3tSiB7e_WwvOW0Igl0VM0tNrYyY/s320/IMG-20121107-WA009.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spider Roll</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVKtwGiRX9YMulvnBYfOW-kE2bZ7-i1QrJUz_J8R-xrTMAg4an57h6ld6Lo7S9YIqfDlEa5pXdGK5EyaI4sa_Gz8Ov-igiZIDevbC2TozA5Grk1GKv6A_2HxOvU46zjQ_171vFx7K2hqg/s1600/IMG-20121107-WA010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVKtwGiRX9YMulvnBYfOW-kE2bZ7-i1QrJUz_J8R-xrTMAg4an57h6ld6Lo7S9YIqfDlEa5pXdGK5EyaI4sa_Gz8Ov-igiZIDevbC2TozA5Grk1GKv6A_2HxOvU46zjQ_171vFx7K2hqg/s320/IMG-20121107-WA010.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellowtail Kama with Ponzu sauce, my husband's favorite</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWSx-kFblRExrP8_rMtBI3HP-dLonmKfwZx86PRjdAt-0lWOSL8Fa3rSiA2Tr6nBdAjk34viov53kOzY6gqEyBJUjce3d8P1dNZ6PwL_d6ITsnyzW0EPDLi8kzvUrS3xNmBWuOuGD4ZQ/s1600/IMG-20121107-WA011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWSx-kFblRExrP8_rMtBI3HP-dLonmKfwZx86PRjdAt-0lWOSL8Fa3rSiA2Tr6nBdAjk34viov53kOzY6gqEyBJUjce3d8P1dNZ6PwL_d6ITsnyzW0EPDLi8kzvUrS3xNmBWuOuGD4ZQ/s320/IMG-20121107-WA011.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spicy Tuna with Pear, topped with crunchy deep fried onion</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRR9HWnIjUY0fY9dAV5YXEGubpWg6sTtQbDQJvBHR7yaz7bxH-8fotpauihDKYnWT-ht4Ilgq83fszVtXodIYf6u34fXfQ7VYOfxgyX7DCprHoNLUFXui4FD4mqPk9DpzFK2a04A0m2Y/s1600/IMG-20121107-WA012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQRR9HWnIjUY0fY9dAV5YXEGubpWg6sTtQbDQJvBHR7yaz7bxH-8fotpauihDKYnWT-ht4Ilgq83fszVtXodIYf6u34fXfQ7VYOfxgyX7DCprHoNLUFXui4FD4mqPk9DpzFK2a04A0m2Y/s320/IMG-20121107-WA012.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My second favorite, Chilean Sea Bass</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jO6M2c5TtobVl8rs1TGYHa3ZurTe5YWHBFLkvPACLd7iWBoDTpUZURRMAAKB-7XBMZkjzsy1sOECj7iEW_ttbxZFBV2g-UF3FHUTu4aCBlyQj2SMKQJzIJlFb2pfBreYplsKFaPF8W8/s1600/IMG-20121107-WA013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8jO6M2c5TtobVl8rs1TGYHa3ZurTe5YWHBFLkvPACLd7iWBoDTpUZURRMAAKB-7XBMZkjzsy1sOECj7iEW_ttbxZFBV2g-UF3FHUTu4aCBlyQj2SMKQJzIJlFb2pfBreYplsKFaPF8W8/s320/IMG-20121107-WA013.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">911 - Hot and Spicy</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZwyuWSw6iJQTJgjBgaucW4q-DdP4J-bmo8lA2Ru2s1tPUMGUeshcj-1VMBvs6hH_BOzyupCEc79aDq_DKOQk7jXqhpfm2T8EdCWepMvSdXVk8jVWal7-Q_DB7kWnjAABEMWJUTHymzc/s1600/IMG-20121107-WA014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheZwyuWSw6iJQTJgjBgaucW4q-DdP4J-bmo8lA2Ru2s1tPUMGUeshcj-1VMBvs6hH_BOzyupCEc79aDq_DKOQk7jXqhpfm2T8EdCWepMvSdXVk8jVWal7-Q_DB7kWnjAABEMWJUTHymzc/s320/IMG-20121107-WA014.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Their Newest Menu, Gangnam Burrito</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Overall it was a nice trip. My definition of a nice trip is a trip full of good food *LOL* I personally can hardly wait to visit Momiji again =)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">PS: Some pictures above are courtesy of my friend, Ms. Tan. </span></div>
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vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6348640431470872339.post-8413411276200376772012-11-01T00:08:00.001-07:002012-11-01T00:09:54.291-07:00Happy Halloween!<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Since both my hubby and I were born in Indonesia, we were not familiar with the Halloween tradition. Therefore, after moving to U.S. we usually don't celebrate Halloween at all =P However, this year my hubby's office held a Halloween celebration and every employees were encouraged to participate. Let me share my hubby's half-hearted effort.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HXfEPu9sjI_FAVsqlt7hiM6O8OYNFU6xGbbCzVn1H88M3Us2fDwy_adXdBm45LkMZxhbuwzXHxj6BCJ4uaniAn-i2Grf576jILc8llA-qAsW1J8d4bgj-_3VXtuylEtj8la2G3r3Yho/s1600/MIB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HXfEPu9sjI_FAVsqlt7hiM6O8OYNFU6xGbbCzVn1H88M3Us2fDwy_adXdBm45LkMZxhbuwzXHxj6BCJ4uaniAn-i2Grf576jILc8llA-qAsW1J8d4bgj-_3VXtuylEtj8la2G3r3Yho/s320/MIB.jpg" width="244" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Photo Credit to AK</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Can you guess what he is? =P</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He was posing with one of our Indonesian friends who happens to work at the same office with him. Both of them couldn't come up with something more creative than that *LOL*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Anyway, I have just returned from my LA weekend trip and started my internship. A lot of exciting things happened since my last posting. Will post more stories soon!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Again, for those of you who celebrate Halloween ... Happy Halloween!</span>vtanghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06293791221603997626noreply@blogger.com0