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NAOMI
20 February 1989
Happily married to Mr Chow
Loves my daughter - Mikaela.

Naomi Shiu

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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Hi I'm back!

It's the month of May. A very busy month!
Sister birthday dinner, Mother's Day dinner, grandma's birthday dinner, and daddy birthday too. All 4 events in one month. Weekends are almost all packed!

So today,I would like to talk about SAHM.
What is SAHM? It's the short term for Stay At Home Mum.
Yes,I've start to work since 1 month ago and I am a full time working mum now. But hey I was once a SAHM too!

I become a SAHM few years back ever since I give birth to my girl. In between, I do work part time /full time for like less than 3 months cause I wanted to earn extra to help my hubz but I can't work for long term due to some problems happening at home.
My grandma was unwell during one period of time, we have no maid/helper at home, my family and my hubz need to work, so I got no choice but to give up everything and quit. That is when I become a SAHM to take care of my girl and also my grandma.

Here let me share with you, my daily life of being a SAHM.

6am/7am - Mikaela cry for morning milk. (Thats my girl) I wash up and change my girl out of her pj. After feeding milk, very energetic , unwilling to go back to sleep so she decide to stay up and play. I'm feeling hungry, I carry my girl down to the kitchen and grab some breakfast for myself. I ate breakfast while carrying my girl.
8am - Grandma is awake. Check on grandma if she is feeling well today. (If unwell or any unusual thing happen to her, I have to call up my parent immediately. This is why I have to make sure she is fine every single day.) After that its playtime with Mikaela. While playing, I will also feed Mikaela some semi-solid food for her breakfast.
10am - Mikaela is feeling sleepy, I let her sleep while I start to collect the clothes for washing. While waiting for the washing machine to end,I start to sweep and mop the house, clean the kitchen top and all the tables.
1130am - Prepare lunch for Mikaela and grandma. Start cooking porridge and at the same time hang all laundry and place it out to dry.
12pm/1230pm - Serve grandma lunch. And my girl is awake for lunch too. Feed her lunch and when she finish,grandma will be done too.
1pm/130pm - Wash pots and dishes. After washing, I start to prepare my lunch. But my girl is sticking to me like super glue asking me to join her for tv time/playtime or asking for snack/fruits.
2pm - while cooking my lunch, I also spend time playing with my girl and giving her fruits after her lunch.
230pm/3pm - I can have my lunch now. At the same time it's almost tea time for Mikaela. So I have my lunch while feeding my girl some snack. Check on grandma and accompany her up to bath room for shower.
345pm/4pm - Bath time for my girl. After bath time it's her milk time and nap time.
430pm - Most of the time my girl will nap. While she nap, I can keep the laundry outside when they are dry. Collect,fold and keep.
5pm - I am sleepy,I want to nap but I can't. I have to go prepare ingredients for Mikaela's dinner.
530pm - Cook Mikaela's dinner. Sometimes I might also need to cook or run out to the nearby coffeeshop to buy dinner for grandma and myself since we don't have a maid during that period when I just started being a SAHM.
6pm/630 - Mikaela is awake. Set up dinner for grandma and also start feeding Mikaela dinner.
7pm - I try to have my dinner. But Mikaela is always sticking to me,she want snack straight after dinner,but I don't allow. Therefore, I took a long time to finish my dinner because of Mikaela.
8pm - I finish dinner. It is grandma's bedtime, so i accompany grandma up to her room. I gotta carry Mikaela also while going up with grandma. After that i need to clear the dining table and wash the dishes. At the same time, Mikaela is still asking for snack and trying to gain my attention while I do the dishes. Sometimes I give in and give her snack,if not I will give her fruits instead of her snack.
830pm - Done with dishes. Proceed to sterilizing Mikaela's bottles and stuff. And also prepare milk powder for her next few feed. Mikaela is wandering in the kitchen while I do all these,yes she follow me around the kitchen.
9pm - Finally I get to rest and sit on the sofa. Mikaela want to play. I'm waiting for my husband to come back from work. So while waiting, I get to watch some tv and also play with Mikaela.
930pm/10pm - Prepare milk for Mikaela. Sometimes hubz will be back by then,sometimes no. But still I bring Mikaela up to bedroom,clean her up,change her in pj. After changing, it's her last feed of the night,her milk before bedtime.
10pm/1030pm - I try to pat Mikaela to sleep. Sometimes she can even sleep on her own.
1030pm/11pm - If I'm lucky,Mikaela sleep early and I can have my shower. I need her to asleep before I go cause sometimes hubz is not back yet. If hubz is back already,after his shower,he can take over and look after Mikaela is she is not asleep,then I can go for my shower.
11pm/1130pm - I'm done with my bath time. If I'm lucky,Mikaela will be asleep by then. If not,sometimes she will insist to wait for me to finish my shower then she will sleep.
1130pm/12am - If she insist to wait for me,I will have to pat her to sleep. If she's good and already sleep when I'm out from my bath, I can finally have my "ME" time.
12am /1am - I sleep during this timing everyday.
3am /4am - Usually Mikaela sleep through the night. But there are some nights when she wake up suddenly and ask for Milk.
6am/7am - It's a brand new day. My daily routine began.


You see, we don't sit at home and do nothing. And we are not tai tai. Okay maybe some who are really really rich okay, but no...not me. It is as tiring as being at work or being a working mum. I can understand cause I am a working mum now,after I end work,I fetch my girl from school and then take over everything to take care of my girl at home till bedtime.

It is a chore talking to some people who do not know the predicaments you are in and yet act smart by giving all sorts of ideas/suggestions. I thank you for your suggestions but I'll appreciate if you could just shut your trap. Best appreciated if you could lend a listening ear, that's all I'm asking for. I am once a SAHM, you are not. So, we are in totally different situations. Don't use your experience on mine, it doesn't work that way.

So how do I stay connected with the outside world when I am always stuck at home being a full time housewife/SAHM?
Some people might think my world would only revolved around the things in the kitchen,my husband,my child,my family. That's all.
But no, I do make it a point not to lose touch with the outside world by reading, blogging, surfing the net, so as not to become a frog in the well.

That's all about it I think.
Pardon me if you feel insulted by my words. I hope you understand where I am coming from because I have received unpleasant and unfair remarks and comments for being a SAHM. I just want to voice out.

Will try to update again soon!

I blogged at 9:54 AM

Monday, April 15, 2013

Hi...I'm back!

Suppose to update during the weekends. But Mikaela was down with fever since Thursday night till Sunday night...the fever just went on and off...seriously I was so worried. But she's all good now, having her nap with hubz snoring away. I just hope her fever don't come back again.

Okay. Back to the topic I want to cover on.

Planning of my Korea trip - part one.

The thought of going oversea came last year 2012. I was hoping I can have a mini getaway to genting with a few close friend of mine, but because it wasn't a good timing to do so during Jan or Feb 2013, I drop the idea. I've also plan to go to Taiwan, but many things happen since last year end till Feb, I give up the thought of having oversea trip for year 2013.

Till March 2013, things got alittle better. Suddenly I have this urge, this strong urge that I want to do something for myself this year. I want to accomplish something that I've always wanted. See the list on the left hand side? One of them is a trip to Korea. And that's it.
( Thanks to hubz,HongKong trip is strike off,it's our honeymoon trip.)

I don't remember exactly when, but I know I did tell my sister that I want to travel to South Korea. Not once, I think many times since dont know when. I am forever dreaming. Lol. Since both of us wanted to travel there so much,we love kimchi + all the Korea cuisine and we are always into Kpop...that's when I think my sister is my best travel companion to South Korea. This is also our first oversea trip together. This is the real 姐妹 trip. (Didn't include hubz cause he don't eat kimchi,don't really fancy korea cuisine and I really want to have a 姐妹 trip with my sis, afterall we are sisters for so many years!)

I got married,have a kid,have my own family. Now this trip is the best for us to have some bonding time. Just the two of us.


Okay here comes all the important part. Our 12 days free and easy South Korea trip. We won't be covering Jeju island cause if we are to go, it will be a 14 days trip. Both my sis and I only have 12 days available, so we decide to explore Seoul and maybe Busan.
We book and plan everything on our own. Cause we both cannot stand tours. So restricted and rush to follow tour. To be honest,we HATE to go on tour.

We set budget for everything. Of course,no budget how you plan? Let me list them one by one.

1) Flight - Budget SGD600 to SGD800.
I've done my research, the flight duration from Singapore to South Korea is around 6 hours. That is if you are on direct flight, no stopover or anything. Initially we wanted to take budget airline or cheap airline like airasia, those flights are with stopover at KL. We did our calculation, the flight fares are within our budget, but there is no free check in baggage and no inflight meals. (yes you all know you have to pay for everything for those budget airline.) So we turn to the better airlines like Singapore airline,Asiana airline and Korea air. These are all direct flights with fantastic inflight meals and entertaiment plus with at least 20 - 30kg check in baggage, but unfortunately all 3 do no have any promotion for our travel dates. And lastly we turn to flights with 1 stopover. Choose between Cathay Pacific stopover at Hong Kong, China Eastern stopover at Shanghai, Malaysia airline stopover at KL,and Vietnam airline stopover at Ho Chi Minh City. After all the comparison,we decided on Vietnam airline.

Air ticket cost: SGD785 per pax (Tax included) There is inflight meals,inflight entertainment and 20kg check in baggage + 7kg hand carry. Economy class L ( Sin - Vietnam - Sin) and First Class R ( Vietnam - Seoul - Vietnam)
Stopover at Ho Chi Minh City is 1 to 2 hours only. Guess we don't have to step out of the Vietnam Tan Son Nhat International Airport (SGN).
We are taking the night flight,so that we can reach Seoul in the morning and can immediately start our day there! Not gonna waste anytime there,it sucks when you reach only in the evening or night.

2) Accomodation - Budget SGD30 to SGD80 per night.
Research and you will know the hotels in Seoul are not cheap at all. Plus, our trip is 12 days long,we cannot afford to spend like 100bucks plus per night. So hotel is out, we are left with guesthouse and homestay.
Guesthouses are an inexpensive accommodation option that allows guests to meet other foreign tourists. Many guesthouses are remodeled family homes (generally with a shared kitchen and shared bathrooms) and are nearby downtown areas and tourist destinations.
Foreigners visiting Korea can stay at a Korean home with a host family instead of at a hotel or a motel, that is homestay.
We decide on guesthouse. As this is the first time I am staying at a guesthouse, I need to choose one that is safe, clean and comfortable. I began my search on the best guesthouse on every booking site, read all the reviews by different tourist, and I found it. The guesthouse with the highest rating,best review and rank number 1 in every booking site is - Hi guesthouse. Of course I cannot just look at these booking site, they have their own website and Facebook, I need to check them out. And I'm so glad,they dont have any complains, it is indeed the best guesthouse.
We can choose from either the 6 bed dorm for females or a twin room. As I said,this is our first time staying at a guesthouse,I don't think we are comfortable sleeping with others though we are all females,so we choose the twin room. The price for the 6 bed dorm is cheaper of course,if you are okay with it,I recommend you to take the 6 bed dorm. If not,if you are traveling in group of 4, they also have a family room for 4 person. Now it's just my sister and me, the twin room is perfect.

Guesthouse cost per night for twin room,2 pax: SGD60

Hi Guesthouse is well located,traveling around will be easy for us. This is what they provide for FREE:
Clean bed sheet, pillowcase, towel,
Shampoo, toothpaste, tissue, soap, toilet paper
Breakfast is served from 08:00 to 10:00. (loaf bread, butter, jam, coffee, tea, eggs)
Free Rental bicycle
High-speed internet access, Wi-fi, cable TV - 100 channels (Access to free wifi everywhere in the guesthouse!)
Air conditioner(each room & everywhere inside the house)
Ondol system(Korean floor heating system)(Really need this during winter!)
Fully equipped kitchen
Washing machine, detergent, drying machine, iron (Can pack lightly for the trip!)
Hair dryer, curling iron
Personal locker
Microwave, refrigerator
Water purifier
(Dorm rooms do not include the cable TV)

Just by looking at all their pictures and reading all the reviews, I think they are great. I am really looking forward. I hope I made the right choice. I will definitely write a review when I am back from the trip!

3) Expenses - Budget 2k to 2.8k per pax
I know. I've done my calculation and did lots of research. My budget for expenses is more than enough. Firstly, we are going during winter period so we can't do much shopping except for cosmetic,face care products and accessories. Secondly, we are not going to sweep all the branded stuff. Food are not expensive there too. It is also enough for the theme parks entry, all the Palaces visit...etc. My budget also include buying gifts for my family and close friends. Unless you choose to dine at high class restaurant every single day and go crazy shopping for branded stuff only,than surely the budget is not enough for you.


I think these 3 are the most important part if you are planning for any oversea trip. Though we are not flying anytime soon, but I am really excited. Can't wait already!
Previously my honeymoon trip to Hong Kong with hubz, we went during November, didn't get to spend Christmas there. So this is my first time celebrating Christmas oversea. I hope Seoul will snow during our stay there,and we will have a white Christmas. (:


Next up I will update on my 12 days Seoul + maybe Busan itinerary. Not so soon. I've got a long list of places I want to cover, haven't even get my sister list yet, need some time to complete.

Very long post for today. I hope it's useful to those who wanna travel to South Korea from Singapore.


Goodnight!

I blogged at 6:44 PM

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Hi, how's everybody yo!

I wanted to update earlier just now, but got no time. And while I am updating now,I am super sleepy.

Taking care of a sick toddler is no joke. Challenge accepted already.

So sorry. Think I will update again either tmr or Sunday. Will be sharing my ways on how I plan for travel trip.

And yes, I will be traveling to South Korea - Seoul with my sister this year!! Can't wait!


Good night!

I blogged at 12:43 AM