Friday Afternoon Protein Booster

* evil drow walks into the meeting room and takes her seat at the table, opposite jägermeister... while waiting for the meeting to start... *

evil drow:

* swat swat * Why are there so many flies in this room? * swat swat *

* jägermeister shrugs and the meeting commences... evil drow continues swatting now and then at the flies... 20 minutes later... *

jägermeister:

Can you read out that email? I just want to be sure the message is correct...

evil drow:

Sure... the email says, bla bla bla...

* jägermeister tuns to evil drow as she reads... while reading, evil drow sees a fly flying near her face and tries to swat it away to no avail but continues to read anyway... *

evil drow:

Bla bla bla... and the next paragraph says, ...

* evil drow takes a breath of air before starting the next sentence... suddenly, the fly is gone... evil drow stops reading and looks directly at jägermeister... *

shocked evil drow:

Did the fly go into my mouth???

trying to keep a straight face jägermeister:

No... no...

relieved but skeptical evil drow:

Are you sure? Oh ok... I'll continue reading... bla bla bla...

* evil drow suddenly feels something in her throat... *

reality hit evil drow:

I ate the fly!!! I ate the fly!!! * cough! cough! sputter! sputter! *

panicking evil drow:

Water!! Water!!! * cough!cough! sputter! sputter! *

* evil drow chucks down a glass of water... washes the fly down her throat... gross...*

grossed out evil drow:

Oh gross!! I ate a fly!!!

laughing cool-shoes:

More protein!

Popcorn @ 26 Weeks

Pictures (left to right):

• Side profile of popcorn's face
• Not exactly sure what this is... something with the face, I think...

A rather stressful start to my visit with dr cool this time. It all began with popcorn playing hide-and-seek with me and the nurse. It took her many minutes before she could find him to get his heart beat with the sonar machine. Our usual Chinese kungfu master/Español footballer decided to stay still enough for me to not be able to detect where he is. Meanwhile, I was hooked up to the blood pressure monitor and as the minutes went by still with no heart beat and movement detected, I can only imagine the numbers on the monitor... when the sound *doop*doop*doop*doop* finally came on, I could have cried with relief!!

* dr cool uses the ultrasound machine and performs the regular scanning of evil drow's tummy... explains along the way the picture that appears on the projector... blah, blah, blah... and nears the end of the regular scanning... *

dr cool:

So, all ok?

evil drow:

Ok!

* dr cool starts packing up the ultrasound scanner... *

evil saint:

Wait! Wait! Can we confirm it's a boy??

dr cool:

Ah, you want to see again? I show you...

* dr cool takes the scanner out again and starts scanning again... and stops at the picture depicted above... and starts circling the "round part" with his mouse pointer *

dr cool:

Now, see... this is the err... sac...

* dr cool then starts moving back and forth at the "long-ish part" with his mouse pointer... *

dr cool:

And this is the err...

smiling evil saint:

Ah!! I see!! I see!!

smiling evil drow:

Oh, so small!!

laughing dr cool:

Don't worry, it will grow bigger!

And yes, we now have visual confirmation that popcorn is indeed a boy! No need to prepare for 2 names, neutral colours and "what if" anymore :)

PS: Forgive me, popcorn, for posting a picture of your privates...

On the Road to Discover Chinese/Malaysian Restaurants...

DYNASTY
Rating:
Service: 4 out of 5
Price: 4 out of 5
Food: 3 out of 5

This is the first Chinese/Asian restaurant I went to when I arrived in 80's land. I have been told that it is owned by a Malaysian. Which is why you will find dishes like sambal udang on its menu. When me and evil saint were living in this city, we would frequent Dynasty quite a bit. Only because it was close to the cinema that showed movies in English. Dynasty makes its money from high turnover of customers and its fast service.
Conclusion: The food cannot be classified as fantastic but just alright. However, one cannot be too picky with its take-away prices. You get what you pay for. They have a nice terrace overlooking the streets below for hot summer days. The dining area is very much like a Chinese restaurant, i.e. huge open area packed with tables and chairs. And there definitely is enough waiters and waitresses to go around ensuring that you will be on time for your movie! I would return to Dynasty should I be in the area and have a craving for Chinese/Asian food.

LE PAPILLON (The Butterfly)
Rating:
Service: 4 out of 5
Price: 4 out of 5
Food: 3.5 out of 5

One day after work, me and evil saint decided to do some shopping at a nearby supermarket. As we were leaving the supermarket, we noticed that what was once a kebab shop had turned into a little Chinese "take-away" shop. After some chit chat about the shop the next day at work, we were told that it actually is a pretty ok place. And so, off we went to try out the new Chinese "take-away" shop for lunch. This is what we found...

• Very quaint and cosy restaurant. Seats a maximum of 10 people only with 4 tables.
• Very simple but functional furniture and decor.
• Daily set lunch menus for CHF 14 or CHF 16, depending on your choice of main meal. The main meal is usually either a chicken, beef or prawn dish with rice or noodles. The set lunch also comes with a spring roll or fried wor-tip/gyoza as an appetizer, and a canned soft drink.
• Fast service. No need to wait forever to have your order taken or to pay the bill.
• Lots of people came in for take-away. Half of them (if not more!) were people from our office. We now know why the office has been smelling like Chinese food for the last few weeks.

Conclusion: The food tasted pretty good and they entertained all my "extra spicy" requests. The price is reasonable and affordable. For the sake of comparison, at the gas station, I would pay CHF 9.90 for a cheese and tomato sandwich with a soft drink and a small bag of chips. And a plate of pasta in a restaurant for lunch would cost me CHF 20. This means that on days when I am too lazy to cook, both me and evil saint can have a proper hot meal lunch without having to burn a hole in our wallets. Yay !!!

AU CANARD PEKINOIS (The Peking Duck)
Rating:
Service: 3 out of 5
Price: 2.5 out of 5
Food: 4 out of 5

After complaining for 3 years about the lack of good Chinese food in 80's land, me and evil saint finally ended up in the toast-of-the-town Chinese restaurant for dinner just this past Monday. Of course, it was by chance that we ended up there, but that is another story. By lunch time, evil saint had googled this restaurant and had read rather bad reviews on it. On the other hand, this restaurant had come highly recommended by quite a few colleagues. However, there was one common agreement between the reviews and recommendations, it was the most expensive Chinese restaurant in town. Right.... Chinese fine dining... evil saint reminded me not to expect the REAL Chinese fine dining, i.e. abalone, sharks fin, etc. but rather the European definition of fine dining, i.e. elaborate decorations, nicely set tables, big plates-small portions... and so with an open mind and fine dining expectations set, off we went for dinner...

• Its interior is the closest to a Chinese restaurant that I have seen in 80's land. Lots of old style Chinese red-dark wood decorations with double happiness symbols.
• Small elaborate walk path made of glass with swimming Japanese carps (not Koi's) beneath it. I can see how this elevates the restaurant to fine dining status here.
• Round tables but set with large plates, silverware, wine glasses and a set of chopsticks at each seat. No porcelain chinese soup spoons, tea cups and no turn-table in the center. I found this a bit strange as I have never seen such an arrangement on a round table in a Chinese restaurant before.
• Obviously opened by Hong Kong-ers. Typical Cantonese menu with an insertion of Beijing and Shanghai-nese dish here and there. For example, "char siew", Peking duck, fried "wor tip" and a variation of the siew lung pao.
• Highly priced menu. A normal bowl of white rice to complement a dish was CHF 4!! If you wanted Cantonese fried rice (with just specks of meat and egg) was CHF 5.40. My dry-fried beef noodles aka "Korn Chao Ngau Hor" was CHF 32.
• Service was so-so. We were attended to very well, the only downside was when I needed chilli for my noodles, the waiter was nowhere to be found. I finished my noodles without chilli.

Conclusion: Extremely expensive but it is the closest match to REAL Chinese food that I have tasted in 80's land. For the sake of comparison, at Le Papillon, a bowl of white rice would cost me CHF 2 and a plate of dry-fried beef noodles is CHF 16.50. Au Canard Pékinois does not have an extravagant menu but just a typical and simple Cantonese, Beijing and Shanghai-nese menu. I would only return to this restaurant if I was dying for Chinese food that I will not cook myself, or with my parents as a treat for them on a special occasion. Otherwise, I would save my money and eat the REAL stuff back home.

LE CAFE RESTAURANT DE COUR "TAI MAH" (Tai Mah Restaurant)
Rating:
Service: ???
Price: ???
Food: ???

This Malaysian restaurant (aptly named, Tai Mah) came recommended by an old colleague who had packed his bags and went back home to where the real food is. I have yet to visit this restaurant, but I am sure it would not take much to convince evil saint to drop by after church one Sunday. The prices published on their website seem reasonable, given that it is a restaurant and not a take-away like Le Papillon.
On the menu, we have chef's specialities, set menu, appetizers, soups, salads, veggies, rice & noodles, beef, pork, duck, chicken, fish and prawn.

Second Blackberry Crash Hits Europe

I have only had my BlackBerry for little over a year after much, much resistance. Yet now, since Monday when it stopped working, life seems so much more inconvenient. For the last 3 days, ...

• If I want to have a coffee or lunch with other people, I actually have to pick up the phone or walk to their desk to ask.
• No more BBM-ing evil saint at 1730 to ask if can we leave for home. I have to check his calendar to see if there is a late meeting or physically go find him (if I succeed, otherwise I will just have to sit and wait).
• No more conversations with HakkaGirl to see how things are going.
• My BB does not beep anymore...

Second outage hits BlackBerry users worldwide - Wednesday 12 October 2011, SiliconRepublic
BlackBerry crash affects millions of users - 9:55am UK, Wednesday 12 October 2011, Sky News

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Update (Thursday 13 October 2011 13:47):

• BBMs to evil saint are going through again! Woohoo!!!
• No response yet from HakkaGirl or dai lou hence, still not sure if BBMs are able to get out of Europe...

Update (Thursday 13 October 2011 15:53):

• Response from HakkaGirl!!! BBM is back in business!!!

My Shopping List...

My growing wish list whose only purposes are for,

• Me to keep track of the items to be monitored for sales
• evil saint to pick up what I need should I become immobile

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Ok, the list got too difficult to maintain here and hence I have moved it into google docs... Baby Shopping List.xls

Popcorn's New Furniture

In the same shopping trip as the puss puss purchase (different shop), we got new furniture for popcorn also. Being the cheapo parent-to-be that I am, I had been monitoring the stores' web sites for sales and when it came, we made a trip to baguette land and sapu-ed what we came for.

Furniture requirements,

• Does not need to last for more than 10 years. No need to invest in solid wood furniture. That is, don't need super high class quality but cannot be too cheapo also.
• Neutral colours.
• Not more than MYR2,800.00 for all furniture, i.e. a bed with mattress, a chest and a wardrobe.
• Bed must have adjustable mattress height and fixed sides.
• Furniture, especially the bed, must be robust and sturdy.
• Nothing too cartoon-ny, cute-sy and fancy. I.e. no themes like The Cars, Hello Kitty, etc.

So what new furniture did we end up purchasing?

• A baby bed with fixed sides and 3 adjustable mattress positions. Transformable into a toddler's bed. L143 x H90 x D78 cm.
• A sliding drawer that slides underneath the bed for more storage space.
• A foam mattress for the bed. The store did not have spring mattresses, so we will go with the foam one for now.
• A chest with 2 doors and a changing table on top. Changing table can be used for babies from 0 to 12 months old. L95 x H92 x D47 cm.
• A wardrobe with 2 doors. Multiple shelves inside with space for hanging clothes. L101 x H189 x P58 cm.

Material: Particle board with decorative birch panels.
Colours: White and Natural.
Delivery time: 4 to 10 weeks
Total price paid: MYR2,200.00

All in all, our requirements are covered with this purchase and some more, and so we are pretty happy and satisfied. Another tick on my todo list!! Yay!!!

And finally, a big thank you to dai sou who advised us to get things done in the 2nd trimester. Otherwise I would have been my typical oblivious self and gone furniture shopping in the final month, and have my undies in knots again wondering if things will arrive on time.

Pictures from the store's website are shown below (sliding drawer underneath the bed is not shown, mattress and all the bed trimmings are not included).