Wednesday 21 October 2015

From a pea to the great bump-kin!

Let the COUNT DOWN begin!

9 months has passed and the waiting game has officially begun...

To say that the past 9 months flew by in a glance is not quite accurate - with all the little milestones we've accomplished and counted down to.

But to say that it's been a long wait is also as inaccurate - cos it's amazing how little en en grew from the size of a pea to somewhat a water melon? (maybe even bigger & heavier!), all in merely 9 short months - this is a little human, a fully functioning one with all those tiny organs in her!

Praise God - This journey so far has been a really awesome one! 

Dedicated to my little en-en - a re-cap of what mama did while I'm carrying you:

AT 18 WEEKS
We've officially cleared the 1st trimester mark - clearing the 1st trimester is an extremely crucial milestone for mama, and Yi-Yi decided that we all went on a family vacation - as a form of farewell to my freedom before you arrived!


Even though Bangkok IS a shopping paradise for women - I hardly bought myself anything - afterall, I wouldn't be able to fit into them soon!

Instead, we started buying things for you. At this point, I still have no idea what gender you were. So everything was neutral - green, yellow and animal-theme. Therefore you'd see blue elephants and pink lions. They are all part of the "neutral" theme.

If I knew I was having a girl - I think that's it! I would have OVER-bought!







AT 23 WEEKS
Long before we discovered you, we have already bought the tickets to Hillsong 2015 in Sydney - and therefore, your spontaneous mama and papa decided to just go with the flow.

This was taken at Sydney Chinatown. 

Did you know that carrying you in my belly didn't restrict me from any form of singing and dancing in church. I hope you will also enjoy singing and dancing when you arrive! 


We wanted you to be friends with animals, hence we took you to the Sydney zoo! 





But, that was not all - you were definitely athletic, hence we took you for a trail at Blue Mountains.

We started off with the intention to take a short and easy trail, but we got lost and ended up going for a rather long trail - you see, you definitely had that never-say-die attitude and endurance!


I wonder if you will grow up to love riding on a swing, just like I do?


We took it 1 step further and actually climbed the 3-sisters bridge for a scenic view!
Those steps were steep and many, but that's why people say that being a mother makes one stronger.


Of course, we had to buy you more clothes! This time, we already knew that you are little darling girl - and have already started calling you en-en.


AT 25 WEEKS
Mama was given the opportunity to fly to Hong Kong for a work trip. 

In fact, that day was 14th July - it was my birthday and I was pretty reluctant to fly, but you gave me that strength.

Feeling slightly down to be flying on my own for work on my special day, God knew better and sent me a surprise via Singapore Airlines...

I was almost touched to tears.  


AT 30 WEEKS
We officially made it past the 2nd trimester. And you grew significantly bigger! 


AT 31 WEEKS
Mama had to conduct a make-up demonstration for work. 

Being in the 3rd trimester by now, I was getting heavier and more easily exhausted, but knowing that I am going to be a mother to a beautiful baby girl gave me some extraordinary strength because I felt totally energetic whilst conducting the workshop!





AT 32 WEEKS
In this time and age - we are really lucky because we get a chance to take pictures of ourselves with our big bellies to keep as a memory (very unlike the days when our parents had us). So, you know this was how mama looked when you were still in my belly!


AT 38 WEEKS

Finally, the day I have been waiting for arrived - my last day at work before the start of my maternity leave!

I can leave work alone and focus on getting ready to embrace you in my arms - alas!


A simple baby-shower... Will this week be the week you arrive?

Mama can't wait to meet you in person, to embrace you and sing to you. My little en-en, I love you right from day 1 and I can finally see you soon! 

Mama is ready for your arrival!


Monday 14 September 2015

2015 Hillsong Conference, Sydney - My personal recap


I still cannot believe it - Hillsong Conference (HSC) 2015 is over... *sobs*

Since we booked the 2015 HSC ticket last year, it seems like the wait to attend HSC took forever, and suddenly, forever ended - so I am recovering from my shock. (yes, I exaggerate)

It is now time for a good recap on the HSC 2015 journey.

This year's theme is "Speak, we're listening..." so it is very centred on listening to God; hearing from Him.

As per previous years, the location for HSC is held at the Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park - which has sitting capacity of 21,000.

Nearest Station would be Olympic Park Station, but the only connecting train to that stop is from Lidcombe Station, so, the journey will look somewhat like:

Your destination station (e.g. Central Station) - Lidcombe - Olympic Park

If you live in sunny island Singapore or cities with very few subway lines, it is likely for you to get confused when you are in Sydney because they are way-to-many train lines and platforms, so it pays to do some homework beforehand and check out the right route, train, platform to get on. :)

More info on Sydney's Trains Timetables are found here:
http://www.sydneytrains.info/timetables/#landingPoint

What is Hillsong Conference like?






So excited to hear Pastor Prince preach even though we are so blessed to have him preach to us in NCC every Sunday already! 

For anyone who in interested to attend Hillsong and have never attended it before, here is a snippet of the activities you can look forward to. Basically, during conference days, you will be very busy as the morning Praise & Worship session followed by sermon is NOT TO BE MISSED! Cos it is a super awesome time of worship. Then you will be going around to attend the various classes and before you know it, the evening worship will be starting!





Some Highlights from 2015 Hillsong Conference



Us being very excited for the official start of Hillsong Conference! And this year, we brought a little precious baby who is still baking is my tummy. :)

The awesomeness of everyone coming together to praise God.
  




Preach it pastor!


Mandatory entrance shot in front of the Hillsong Banner.

Us sitting on the floor outside the audi (along with the many others), waiting for conference doors to be opened.

Playing around with the balloons from Hillsong Kids!


So happy to have sneaked a photo shot with Pastor Brian who was there to sign his book. 
I am pretty sure he was told not to allow anyone to take photos with him cos he must have been running a tight schedule. Blessed me!

And he looks SOOOOO GOOD! This guy is a grandfather of a few already!  

Randomly taking photos in between the sessions.
(This time round, they hired alot of food trucks to feed the people!)

Selfies while queuing to enter the masterclasses.


 Mr Chan Peng queueing up while I sat down! (The privilege of being pregnant!)



Sneaking a bite in the audi before service starts!

Pastor Brian blessed every single one of the person in the audi (that is some 20,000+ people) with 1 book with 1 wish - that we bless someone else (who did not attend conference) with it. How amazing is this Pastor! And this is a retailing book!

From previous experience, I've learnt that it is better to cook every meal in advance and bring it to conference to avoid long lunch queues!

Our first stop upon arrival was actually Coles Supermarket so we could store up for the next few days and not get hungry! Major priority!

With these, daily breakfasts & lunches were settled for all the conference days!
(We will usually have dinner outside before returning to our service apartment)

Whipping up lunches to be frozen, 1 night prior to the start of conference!
(I chose to cook items that can be easily thawed, reheated and packed in a hot flask) 

Japanese Curry Sauce 
(In fact I cooked 2 kinds of curry, the regular one and the Japanese one)

Ham & Mushroom Carbonara Cream Sauce 


Cheers to a wonderful & memorable Hillsong 2015!