Birthday 2008

A new year, a new number for my age. That's what it's like to have your birthday in January.

This year, other than the birthday cake and lunches at the office, I had dinner with family at Waraku @ The Central on Friday. It was my first time at The Central which is located just next door to the Merchant Court Hotel. Waraku was on the 3rd floor. The Central also had a whole bunch of other Japanese restaurants throughout the mall. If you are into Jap food, this is the place to go.

Anyway, Waraku (as well as some of the other Jap establishments) was super crowded. We had to wait a while for a table for 8. The food itself was not really fantastic. The jap curry was not near any of the better ones I had tasted. Overall its ok, but I still prefer Sun with Moon!

(Flickr Photo Set HERE)

Shopping for Baby Stuff

We have been looking around for baby stuff for some time now. Recently there were sales at Robinsons, MotherCare, Kiddy Palace etc. and we surveyed all of them.

Yesterday, we went to Kaki Bukit where there were 2 Hypermarts. I've been there once and this was Wifey's first time. Was pretty bad today as it was raining cats and dogs ...

Stroller/Pram/Car Seat:

I had initially narrowed down the search to the following:
- Quinny Buzz (Stroller)
- MacLaren Techno XT (Stroller)
- Britax First Class Si (Car Seat)

The best prices we found for both models of the stroller were at Baby Hypermart. Also, I'm not sure how they quote prices cos the last time I went only a few days ago the price quoted was very much different!

There was also a cool MacLaren Techno XT Leather Carbon Fibre on display there too! Made of carbon fibre instead of aluminium, and the whole stroller was done in black leather. The price ... SGD2800!

Anyway, after browsing around, we decided to go to Baby Kingdom. We found the staff more friendly and also they had the Britax car seats. Unfortunately, they didn't have the Techno XT, but Wifey found something she liked. It was the Capella S-228. Made in Korea, it was about half the price of the Techno XT and was also somewhat smaller when folded. Another advantage of the Capella over the Techno XT was that it allowed the baby to either face toward the parent or face away. The 4 wheel turning capability of the Capella is also pretty neat, it can spin around and even move sideways.

As for the Quinny Buzz, well, it looks really cool. Unfortunately, it was too big and heavy even when folded. Dun think it will work too well in the boot of our C3, plus, it was about 4 times the price of the Capella ...

In the end, we went for the Capella S-228 (Orange) and the Britax Premium (Camel Suede). Two major items off our list but many more still to go!




Capella S-228 Series




Britax Premium (Camel Suede)

Parenthood

Some of you may have noticed by now that little widget on the left that has been put there some time ago. If not, I'm making it more obvious for you with a nice big ticker on the top of this blog ... heh heh!

Anyway, the journey's been pretty smooth for us. Today, there's 117 more days to go. Wifey is lucky not to have any pregnancy niggles (e.g. morning sickness etc.) and baby is fine too. Here are some interesting images of the progress so far ...




The (+) says it all, and this was just a few days before we departed for our Scandinavian Trip last September!




Scans at 7 weeks. From this day, we started calling him/her "Peanut".




Scan at 9 weeks and 5 days. "Peanut" has grown bigger.




Scans at 13 weeks and 5 days. Getting bigger and more defined.




Scans at 22 weeks and 5 days. "Peanut" is a him! (and officially gets a proper name now)