Never be the same again

I never thought I'd say this. I'm into my second trimester!

It all started when I had to just stop my elliptical work after less than 10 minutes on the trainer. It is usually a drag for me anyway, but never have I felt like I just.couldn't.continue. Then my chest started to hurt like crazy.

In the middle of a particularly difficult day to get through in the office, it suddenly dawned on me that this could be signs of more than the flu or normal aches. One short gynae appointment later we were staring at little jelly bean on the ultrasound scan.

Some ups and downs of the pregnancy so far:-

-  I don't have to clean touch the cat litter. The hubbs is so fearful of toxoplasmosis infections that he has now taken complete ownership of this chore we once squabbled over.

-  I haven't gained much weight - some flesh immediately appeared almost overnight on my butt, stomach and upper arms, but nothing particularly alarming. And my stomach also has the tendency to be normally-sized in the mornings and then balloon like crazy after a meal. But other than that, I still fit into most of my clothes (I do confess a sudden preference for elastic waistbands) and on the most part look like myself.

- FATIGUE - The first few weeks of the pregnancy were the WORST. I felt like a truck had run over me most of the time. I couldn't sit straight,let alone work some afternoons. This plus the fact that I had to endure quite a lot of business travel (quite a few day trips ugh) which really drained the life out of me. Oh, and one Saturday we decide to hit a mall after brunch. After an hour of trekking through its labyrinths, I told AK I REALLY needed to get home. Once home I was knocked out for 2 hours straight - almost unheard of for me.

I have been desperate enough to catch some rest in washrooms and even my car during office hours. After reading some tips online, here's what helped me the most:-

- Eating a good proper breakfast. Take blackstrap molasses in my coffee.

- Take multivitamin supplements in the morning

- Ironically, exercise. Long walks in the neighbourhood, breathing fresh air, helped me feel less lethargic and I sleep better at night. I have also been doing quite a bit of walking during my travels. A business trip to Singapore where I took the opportunity to walk from my hotel to the nearby malls (and hit Crate and Barrel), getting myself thoroughly lost in the basements of Ion Orchard. Ak and I also went on our long-awaited vacation to Bangkok, where we walked Chatuchak, Platinum Mall, and Siam Paragon numerous times. Though we depended on cabs a lot more more than in our previous trips. My parents also paid us a visit over the Raya holidays and we took them shopping. So some walking there as well. unfortunately due to all the travel I had to do I couldn't do as much yoga as I wanted (boo).

- Turn in early. In the first few weeks I was in bed by 9 and in dreamland by 9.30, only to struggle to wake up at 7 to go to work. 
I am grateful though, as the weeks go by and I approach the second trimester, that the fatigue seems to be tapering off. My gynae warns me that once the fatigue goes off then comes the nausea and morning sickness, which I am grateful (for now - fingers crossed!) that I have not experienced.

- Heartburn/Chest pains - I can't eat the portions I used to anymore. My usual style is to inhale/gobble my food, which is really BAD for me now. I end up with severe heartburn and chest pains that can go on for hours. I don't have much of an appetite (although I have very specific cravings), so often I don't realize I'm hungry until I'm ravenous. Now I need to remind myself to eat slowly and pause in between bites. This in some ways has been harder than giving up my coffee. Like, for example, we had a delicious team lunch of (extremely oily) spagetthi aglio olio and the yummiest chicken wings I had in a while. I couldnt stop myself from eating 4 wings in addition to my pasta, and am still feeling the effects 4 hours later.

- I do have VERY specific cravings though, that AK has to scramble to meet :) We've driven around Lucky Garden 3 times in search of a parking spot for Sarawak Laksa, sweated our brains out in Paramount Garden for Curry Mee (reeeally excellent by the way); braved the jam to Paradigm mall for deep-fried squid, to name a few. Yes, all I want to eat most of the time are spicy curry noodles!

Other than that, our lifestyles haven't really changed. We still go out with friends. I badly want to do a bit more travel before I reach the 3rd trimester, but with our work commitments it's going to be tough. Still, we'll see. I still want to cook and bake and do everything I love to do. And there are so many things we need to line up to prepare for our new arrival - hire a helper, shop for the best post-natal treatments, attend antenatal classes. One thing at a time though, and it's still early days.

 

Portuguese Egg Tarts

These tarts are a result of the following:-

1) A silly bet with AK on Aragorn's age. Bet you didn't know that dashing Aragorn is 80 years old! Well, he is apparently a descendant of the Dunedain, and they live 3 times the lifespan of normal man, you know?

2) So I lost and AK demanded Portuguese egg tarts
3) I always wanted to try making my own puff pastry, so I decided to attempt it here

4) It took me a span of 2 weeks to make the bloody pastry, with work, work travel, and the usual weekend activities.

5) I used the recipe in Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bakery cookbook, which calls for European-style, high-fat content butter

6) My forearms burnt each time I rolled out that damned batch of pastry. I felt like I was attempting peacock pose for a couple of hours, no joke!

7) Portuguese egg tarts need to be baked at really high temperature, to caramelize that layer of casein that rises to the top of the custard filling when baking.

I followed this formidable recipe for the custard filling, and it worked like a dream.

Once you have the pastry sorted the custard making part's a real cinch, really. They turned out well, I must say - since AK ate 8 tarts in a span of 2 days and then promptly asked for them again this coming weekend. Think I am going to buy my puff pastry this time.

Rediscovering my Penang

Now that I am a couple of years into thirty, with a stressful job and a true-blue "KL" lifestyle (i.e. working beyond the timing in which it doesn't take an hour or more to get home, then hitting the mall for dinner and hanging out there until traffic reaches more acceptable hours, insane drivers, lining up for brunch), I tend to want my holidays to revolve around rest and rejuvenation. My typical trip would look something like this - book a luxurious hotel (I am especially partial to ones with Heavenly Beds), sleep in, do a little exploration (with shopping of course), return to the hotel, rest - you get the gist. Oh, and order room service and watch a movie - a most cherished tradition of ours.

So, it was with some trepidation that I agreed to join the hubs' friends for a trip back to Penang over the Labour Day weekend. The boys had a whole itinerary planned out - Day 1: ESCAPE (more details below), Day 2: Hike the Penang National Park. And - boys being boys - nights out for dinner and alcohol into the wee hours. I thought I would have preferred to stay at home, catch up with work, go for yoga classes, do a bit of baking and housekeeping. 

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But with all our plans for life,  it struck me that if I didn't do this now, with this fun bunch, I might not get the chance to do it anymore. So off I went.

I almost died, I tell you. There were times during the damned treetop challenges (especially towards the end when I completed the last and most challenging circuit of the series) when I just felt like leaving it all to hang and just allow myself to drift on my safety tagline towards the next platform. 

I don't know how I, I who always accepted that I had no upper body strength, I who still cannot manage a proper push-up - had it in me to finish. Maybe yoga helped, maybe it was that lingering thought of never having the opportunity to do this again, maybe it was a little of everything - but I finished it all. A curving-tree wall-climb that I saw many guys could not complete, four rounds of the gecko wall climb, one Level 2, one advanced Level 3 and the most difficult round, the ultimate Level 3 - I did it all! And I finished, damnit. I took my time, I breathed through my pain, I strategized my moves, and I never felt like I needed to prove anything or compete. I just wanted the experience to count. And it really does. I know it's probably nothing in the big picture of things, but I do want to indulge in a little self-satisfaction :)

Oh, and we went to China House for dinner that night, where we all had a little (or a lot of) wine, chatted and laughed and marveled about our ESCAPE experiences, laughed even more when one guy, in his attempt at trying to appear more sophisticated, attribute the dryness of the Australian red to the dry season in Europe, and enjoyed some great live music.

Unfortunately I have very few photos of my ESCAPE experience, it was raining heavily, and a camera/iPhone isn't exactly safe when you're dangling four stories up. I took photos of the sustainable practices I saw, and our friends who completed the course ahead of us managed to snap a few from below.

I expected to return from this holiday dragging myself to work, exhausted and worn out. Well, it turned out quite the opposite - I felt refreshed, super positive and strong, almost superwoman-like. I learnt something important here - I must learn to stretch myself every now and then - if only to feel stronger later.

Rainwater collection - a tap at the base for washing feet, and plants on the top.

Charming whitewashed old Teluk Bahang Dam staff quarters turned into washrooms, locker rooms and shops on ESCAPE grounds

Shooting off the Atan jumo

Here I am finishing the last leg of the most challenging of the treetop challenge series

Pantai Kerachut - I didn't see dolphins this time, but the beach was spanking clean.

Obligatory couple shot

Whitewashed walls and a little garden in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. Bangkok Lane.

What monsters have we become?

One of the most harrowing things I have ever watched, and it's all true, for goodness' sake. Globalization, industrialization, corporatized agriculture, this is the earth we built.

I guess this further reinforces my ever-evolving belief - I need to take a kinder approach.

A Kinder Approach

Where did all the time go?

Here's a list of stuff I'm digging, four plus months into 2014. Am I slowly turning into a hippie or what??!!

1) Yoga! I've started going to the classes sponsored by my company again. Funny thing is, when I tried out the class a year and a half ago, I was so impatient to move from one pose to another, and I was bored out of my wits. Now, I enjoy the gentle stretches and the not-so-gentle poses that force just a little bit more out of me. I love the focus on the body itself - the core, the thigh muscles, the arms and shoulders. I love the little transformational changes I see - like being able to touch my toes in forward fold after a couple of weeks. And, truly a life lesson in itself, the ever constant, gentle reminders to always, always, breathe. Whatever you're feeling at the moment, it too will pass, just breathe through it. Pain is fleeting. Breathe through the pain, breathe when you think you can't hold that pose for any longer. You're stronger than you think.

I admit, I am horribly inflexible, and am constantly playing catch-up at both my paid and sponsored classes, but I actually look forward to them. The weeks when I have to miss classes(most likely due to work travels), I sorely miss it.

2) I made my own Epsom-salt scrub! Hardly a recipe - just 1 cup of epsom salts (read all about its goodness (with further links) here), 1/3 cup coconut oil, and a few drops of your favourite essential oil for fragrance - I used lemongrass for a fresh tropical feel. I use it after soap in the shower. I am trying my best to reduce the use of unnecessary chemicals in our lives, and this saves money as well (total cost - less than 10 bucks).

3) My music of the moment:-

i) Sam Behymer's performances in The Voice. I am obsessed with Sam's performance singing Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran (she's the taller girl in pink) - graceful, ethereal and just a little bit kooky. Ed Sheeran sang the original with heated passion, Sam does it here with a beautiful tenderness and soaring desperation. I really wish Adam Levine kept her on the show :( (She was eliminated in the next battle round).

ii) Josh Kaufman's cover of Stay With Me by Sam Smith. I usually despise over the top stage effects, but I thought the pouring and splashing raindrops here was just so beautiful. I loved the effect it had, coupled with Josh's intense, beautiful vocals - now, that's a moment.



I am slowly but surely adopting a kinder, more natural lifestyle - I've planted my own spinach, I've partially eliminated chemicals from my cleaning routines. I consciously seek local organic (fresh) ingredients when I shop for my cooking - easy to do in Klang Valley. I am also attempting to cook less with meat (more water is required for production of meat, and check out this link comparing the carbon footprint of foodstuffs), and I now eat more tofu, soy and mushrooms. 

Finding peace

Look what happened when I tried to find some quiet time to meditate.

The minute I settled in, crossed my legs and closed my eyes, this fella scrambled on.

Check-in

I write this from my hotel room in JB. Tomorrow I have a full day workshop in the fabrication yard. Last week I was stuck in a ridiculous training session for the whole week. Classes started at 7.30 am and ended around 6 - 7 pm.

To cap off the relaxing week, we had an exam the last day. The week was capped with an exam, AND I came down with food poisoning.

Valentine's Day was spent eating banana leaf rice (really excellent, by the way). We spent a lovely Saturday eating, shopping and resting. Then I spent my entire Sunday catching up on the week's work and ended up working until 1 am. The week before I spent 2 days in another mind-numbing workshop AND we had friends over for housewarming/CNY twice.

I am EXHAUSTED.

Yesterday was the first time I worked out in about 2 months. It felt wonderful moving again, but I am sore.

What I am into these days:

1) IntotheGloss - More like obsessed. I stumbled upon this super cool site via one of my favourite blogs, then got really really hooked on reading about people's beauty routines. I love how they talk about their backgrounds, their philosophy when it comes to maintaining their skin (diet or product or both). Some of my favourite Top Shelf posts are this haute hippie cold-pressed juice bar owner's, this simple routine by a model-turned social entrepreneur.

I'm also lovin' this BEST OF list. And this fabulous post is really making me rue not opting for a bathtub in our home.

2) Oils - I'm really into them, - Cleansing oil, oil in my hair, on my skin.

I first purchased Neutrogena's cleansing oil, which was a mistake. My skin got red and splotchy, and I absolutely despise the synthethic scent. I switched to Shu Uemura's instead, looking up online on how exactly to use it (Massage it into dry skin, use water to lather and then rinse) and - and what a difference! Red patches GONE. My skin feels soft and lost its tight feeling. Neutrogena relegated to cleansing my feet and elbows now.

I also use coconut oil in my hair. I massage a good amount in my scalp and hair, potter about for a few hours, then rinse out with shampoo. My hair is all thick and glossy, for the first time in like, ten years maybe?

 I still use my all-time favourite H20+ sea salt-almond oil scrub. The price (for a body scrub) is a little off-putting (a large jar costs RM150 but it does last at least a couple of months), but I do want to experiment with making my own salt-or-sugar scrub when it's finished.

Oh, and another product ITG got me hooked on - Fresh Sugar Face Polish. Use this after cleansing, and the brown sugar, strawberry seeds, plum and grape seed oils really do wonders. Glow I believe is the word we're looking for.

What I started:
1) Yoga. Started, with ONE class. But to be continued - with all the crazy work stuff ongoing I want to learn to unwind and breathe.

2) I also started listening to this before bedtime (ITG again, I know). Anything to get more out my short(er) hours of sleep!

3) I made it a priority to do less social networking and more reading in bed. One of my greatest pleasures is reading in bed. I have finished 2 books so far this January - so excellent progress made there.

4) Oh, and on that same note, I have also been devouring magazines (January'14 issues of Fortune 2014, FastCompany, Vanity Fair, and Vogue India). I treated myself to a 1-year subscription of Monocle Magazine.