Way overdue thankyou note

This is a special new-mom lightning fast quick shout out to Chantal Tyrrell from Oz, Kerrie,Bill & Ella Hodgson from NZ. Thank you very very much for the gift but most of all for keeping us in your thoughts...It is amazingly encouraging when total strangers care enough to bring you a gift from home & sincerely share the same joy you do. Unfortunately we did not have the opportunity to thank them personally but  I will always remember your kindness! - Free stays on your next visit!!! oh wait lemme check with the real boss..

Baby Adira Ngui Siew Jinn

I know some of you might be waiting to meet us, We apologize for the disappearing act, however it is with good.. no great reason. Because the baby is here!!!!

At week 30, I flew to KL to prepare for the arrival of our first baby, Unfortunately we found out that I had some placenta complications & every week it would deteriorate much faster then it should. On the  10/8, with a small bag of clothes Anton came over thinking it was going to be a quick weekend trip to check on me, and then doc drop the bomb on us! he decided it is no longer safe for her to stay in &  we would have a C sect tomorrow! On the 11th of Aug 2012 1pm, weighing at only 1.9kg, The little missy made it loud & clear that she wasnt' a happy camper..because of her low birth weight, she was immediately placed in an oxygen box in the NICU to help her breath. over the next 48hours her condition would deteriorate as her immature lungs collapse, at about 2.30am we both received news that she will have to be put on the ventilator & the machine will have to completely take over her breathing & I felt the inevitable doom, like she was slipping away from us. As I lay immobilized & helpless post surgery, I would jump awake as soon as I hear the sound of nurses/ doctors pacing in, fearful of more bad news.

With lots of tears & prayers, over the next few intensely trying days, she would make baby steps literally,everyday they would decrease the oxygen percentage & see if she could breath on her own, we would clear different test & scans, nurses would feed her  a bit more through a tube. In fact she's build quite a reputation with the nurses for being a feisty munchkin, since very often she would attempt to pull the tubes off & give them the stare down from the corner of her slitty beady eyes. After 10days in NICU she was finally out of the woods & ready to come home with us.We are truely blessed with a great team of Nurses/Doctors/even the hospital janitor!! ..

I really want to share the details of our experience, but my sleep deprived brains is not turning..so this would have to do for now. Meanwhile thankyou for the encouraging messages, emails.. kept me sane for the longest 10days of my life.

So every one meet our Petit Four, dubbed the chili padi (birds eye chili) - Little Miss Adira Ngui Siew Jinn.

Day 2, CPAP machine ..looking very strained

Delivering precious droplets of collustrum

3 cheers for mummy..milk is in!!!

Day 8, after ventilator, back to CPAP then Oxygen box .Crazy big diapers.

Late night delivery of goods.

Storrmmmmm!!

Cab went into the ditches on the way up our hill... I

Land Below the Wind sorta doesnt' apply to Sandakan anymore.

We've been having some trecherous weather.

Be afraid,,, be very afraid of the stormmmmm.... 

Remember Keven Osborne, Stayed with us quite awhile ago. We got him to come back to help out with a project & cant show you guys the end product yet, but here a glimpse behind the scenes. 

It looks like a deceptively easy & fun job, but Anton was telling me how they had to wake up pre-dawn, crawl under bushes , withstand pesky bugs scale walls to get the right shots. 

Anyways he is Keven's website again, amazing stufff.. check em out!

http://www.fox-fotos.com/

Baby updates

Its a girl!! 

We'r at halfway mark, 21weeks.

She likes to Samba in the evening. 

She dislikes fish still...... Fine! I dislike fish still.

Good news is Im feeling alot better! Bad news is supposedly doesnt last very long.

Hey you look familiar!

So we scoot off to Phuket for a short short short holiday before bb come along, just a few short days of eating good food, go for long walkabouts , boat ride on a Chinese Junk - which btw was amazing & then we bump into a familiar stranger. From way across the road I saw that unmistakable dreds,skinny frame, teeny tiny eyes & megawatt smile & it was LEE!

about 4 years ago, When we first started the retreat. Lee stayed with us for quite awhile.. around a week. Probably friendliest chilliest person I've ever met..as you can see his "good vibrations'' were extremely infectious, just look at Anton hahahaha. Anyways Lee would walk around topless covered with tribal tats, stroll into our  kitchen & cook with us, casually turned our restaurant area into a make shift spa providing all day free massage & ear cleaning services, move mattress out from the hostel & sleep under the stars..so no doubt he very popular with other single female guest. 

Small world indeed, we caught him out in the streets of old phuket town an hour away from his flight back to korea..had some drinks in a quirky coffee shop/guesthouse/secret garden where they do all the naughty stuff..offered us some "herbal jacked chocolate'' ..maybe Anton poked his curious fingers in em when i wasnt looking!!!  

Ford Ranger Challenge

So we've been working on some new accomadation to host some Local NGO groups, Had the hardest time trying to cart things around. Life is just so pre-historic here. The perfect solution came along when we saw the Ford Ranger Challenge Ad. Stand a chance to win a new truck!!! Mamamia! After filling in the details etc.. case went cold. - But that is till last Sunday! Anton got a call from em. Whooopie didnt think we would stand a chance. Naturally every1 is bouncing off the walls in excitement like a Ribenna Berry.

We need this truck! SO PLEASE VOTE FOR US!!!
http://fordrangerchallenge.com.my/contests/showentry/1040587

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After a few follow ups.. not picked as final 5. Very dissapointed. no new truck i guess :0( 

Coffee ( Tea ) Party at the office

We don't usually have coffee/tea breaks much at work.. But it seems the only way I can limit my caffeine intake is to share. I got a great bag of Papau New Guinea Blue Mountain from a good friend few days a ago...I know, go big or go home right? Since its somewhat forbidden for preggars to take coffee, I might as well make the best of it & have the best the world can offer.That delicious cobalt blue foil packet calls to me relentlessly everyday!!! Aarrghh I cant take it no more!

Im no connoisseur but I do love my coffees & now that my palate for food ( food is also a big deal for me ) is all fucked, life has become bleak & depressing.. not to mention I've had problems sleeping too.Anyways I gulp down my 8oz worth of guilty pleasure in less than 5 minutes. All I can say im impressed by what mother earth can produce ..of course given the right conditions.

So often we take everyday meals for granted, Essentially its fuel for the body, mind & soul - Im sure mother-in-laws,orthodox midwives,hardcore chinese sinseh types who practice their so called self-righteous pragmatism are rolling their eyes on the very irony of my coffee article. For the record..Im so glad Anton's Mum - Mary has no place in this department & im allowed to eat,drink as I want. (MAJOR BONUS GIRLFRIENDS! TRUST ME.) -I digress. So now that Im eating for 2,you cant help but be grateful for Earth's provision. Everything you need in order to keep those delicate wheels & gears turning is out there in the fields,seas,mountain,streams.I can only hope people realise the severity of tipping the balance of our ingenious food chain. I guess we humans are not so smart after all.. always making the most obvious mistakes.

But today im putting em 'Horse Blinkers'' on,...Its Black gold babyy! black gold! WWeeeehooo.

Mr Majawat & Mrs Hall's Wedding

We had the honour of hosting Ian & Eve's wedding few weeks back, Ian is an Architect based in KK ,he's also working on the upcoming Sunbear sanctuary & some really cool beach shacks in Mantanani island. http://arkitrek.com/

Eve's a journalist from KL. They brought together about 80-100 party animal all looked like they've been caged for way too long :0) I must say they've officially outdo us in the party department & I feel old & domesticated watching on.

1) They absolutely tear the roof off a Karaoke bar in the dodgiest part of town ( Even I didnt know of it existed,apparently that was only a warm up session )
2) The girls had team Ian go through horrible forfeits & punishments in mid day heat ( All to proof worthy of the bride's hand )
3) A crazy cultural medley when the couple did the tea ceremony dress in Cheong Sam + Scottich Kilt + on our vintage Malay wedding throne + Hippie streamers in the background
4) Beers to cool the mid day heat
5) Sunset Cocktails,courtesy of ehem us .. www.balin-sandakan.com
6) Then some food & great speeches
7) More booze & potent Tapai ( local Rice Wine ) to get the party going
8 ) Some dancing ..some drag dancing to be exact
9) More booze
10 ) We left & last checked party did not end till 5am - Sunrise is about 5.30 here.

ohh oh .. I almost forgot she gave everyone the loveliest wedding favour everr..A family recipe book,a compilation of both families secret recipes ( Duhh )

Nevertheless I really admire the enthusiasm & randomness of this quirky bunch. But all in all it was nothing short of the big four letter word. L.O.V.E Im glad we got to be part of it.

1 + 1 = 3

Week 3 - Hymm,.. Im late...

Week 4 - Ok lets buy a test kit,I know its wrong, but the excitement was more like a teenager after some forbidden

pre-marital sex..Oh C'mon,dont judge me... nobody keeps their virginity these days! - Negative.

- Interlude - Urshering the Year of the Dragon, Fire works, parties, drinks, didnt feel like touching my usual favourites.

Week 5 - Blotching ,.. yEaay grandaunt is here..oh wait...it stoped ( I later found out its called implantation bleeding)

Week 6 - Lets buy another test kit this time hospital quality. peeeeeeeeeeee. * pee * peee * peeee* ( sorry im very visual in my writtings. - Positive.

Week 8 - we see the lil guy/gal ,tiny about 1-2cm. somewhere in the fuzzy screen wa

s a blip thats going a thousand miles an hour.

- Interlude 2 - Fish & almost everythingelse on the dinner table smells like dead corpse, I've turn into a fart machine, my boobs feel & starts to take the form of sm mammalia udders, & all i want to do is sleep..im a needy bag of hormones.

Week 12 - Present. Yesterday, we had another ultra sound scan, It was full of life,like the galloping of a thousand wild horses, the little blip have grown into a strong steady drumroll. Wriggling in me, with a firmly clenched fist the baby waved like a rapper going "Yo! Yo! SUpp dawg?!" - so i guess "the dawg's cools yo!" is my answer to the amazing gift

we now call our child aka bb.

So I guess IM PREGNANT folks!!! The addition to our international fa

mily is due late Sept. If you are visiting end of the year we'll definately introduce you to the new boss & village head.Will keep everyone post.

See! bright white spec near the mouth going yo! yo!!