Airflown Breastmilk

I'd never have thought that I would go this far to still breastfeed Verity (no pun intended). When my boss asked if I wanted to go to Japan for a week-long study mission, she was also concerned cos she knew I was still breastfeeding Verity. Well, I said yes after thinking through. And since I was going there, I thought might as well extend my trip and have a hol. Clem couldn't take leave so I asked Brenda, my all-time travel kaki.

It was only after I started planning that I realised what a huge "project" it would be to still continue to breastfeed Verity. I thought of pumping and dumping while I was there but it suddenly it dawned upon me that Brenda was coming back 1st after one week. So I asked if she was willing to help transport BM back. She agreed. A great pal, she is.

So I started to read up on pumping, packing, transporting and customs regulation. Really got very stressed with all these. Got help and advice from Multiply's Breastfeeding Moms group. With all the info ready, I felt more prepared (although still stressed) about the "project".

Brought styrofoam cooler boxes, reusable dry ice, milk bags, sterilising tablets, rafia strings etc. Had to double the contents since we were sending them back in 2 batches. Even brought along an English-Jap dictionary in case I needed to do some explaining either at the airport or hotel.

During the flight, I pumped in the toilet while everyone was napping to avoid hogging the toilet. And dumped.

After 6.5 hours of flight, I felt full and had to endure another 2 hours of transfer. Brenda and Ruth waited for me for almost 3-4 hours at the airport as theirs was an earlier flight.

Upon reaching the hotel, I had to settle the "adminstration" first. Meaning, needed to check how to store and what resources were available.

I was so glad to see an ice pail in the fridge. This meant there was an ice dispenser somewhere and I went looking for it. It was just along the corridor. So convenient.

After pumping, I kept the milk bag in the pail of ice, washed and sterilised the equipment. I called the front desk to check how I could have access to the freezer. The fridge in the room wasn't cold enough. I found out that I only needed to bring the contents to the front desk and they would keep in the freezer for me.

With all these settled, I felt more at ease and was able to enjoy the rest of the trip.

So began my daily routine. Morning, woke up to express. Deposited the the night before's and morning's product to the front desk. Had to emphasise freezing and immediately. I was given a puzzled look initially but a couple of them recognised me days after.

Twice during the day, I would manually squeeze in public toilets. These would go down the toilet bowls.

With a doubt, this routine was insufficient compared to that I had back home, plus having Verity drain me out throughout the night. The volume had reduced by half by the time 6 days had passed. But definitely better than nothing.

Soon one week's passed and Brenda and Ruth were leaving. Brenda left a corner of her luggage empty just for the box. After packing in the dry ice and milk bags, I attached a note detailing instructions for Clem. I sealed the box carefully and prayed that all would be well. Clem would fetch Brenda from the airport to collect the BM. Haha, sounded like some kind of illegal transaction.

In the afternoon, I received an sms from Brenda. When she was checking in the luggage, the scanner detected dry ice and the officers requested her to open the luggage. Brenda had to explain it was milk for baby and had to claim it was hers. If she had mentioned that it belonged to someone else, they would have demanded she opened the box. So thankful for her smartness. In the end, they poked a few holes in my box.

That night at 3 am, received Brenda's sms that the collection was successful. Heard from Clem also that the milk was still frozen and undestroyed. Now, to wait a few more days for the next news: that Verity was still alright after drinking the milk which meant there was no contamination. I thanked God for the smooth operation.

For the rest of the week, performed the same routine. Had to sleep late and wake up very early (5+am, which was Singapore's 4+am) to express as the group would depart early for the visits to corporations. My supply was running terribly low. Had no choice but to manually express. By the end of 2 days, my breasts were bruised and the skin had come off due to the excessive rubbing and squeezing. But had to carry on. I couldn't just stop there!

Soon it was time to go back home and I collected all my products. To my horror, the staff mistakenly placed one of my milk in the fridge instead of the freezer! In the fridge, it would only be good for 8 days and 6 days had passed.

I showed my very pissed look and refused to leave the counter. The staff apologised profusely but it was not his fault. After I had satisfactorily registered my fury, I left but couldn't helping thinking how that staff had wasted all my efforts even it were 2 packs. Might need to dump those 2 packs if they had turned bad.

Thank God, check-in at airport was smooth. Everything went well all the way home. Felt so assured seeing my bags of milk in the freezer.

Hope I had not been too pre-occupied with BM. Clem said I was too stressed over breastfeeding Verity and encouraged me saying that everyday is considered a bonus so don't get too stressed.

I try not to, but I don't belong to the "New Zealand" species where these mothers get pails of milk with little effort (ok, I'm exaggerating). They run like taps. Me? More like a leaking tap. Only drip, drip, drip. So you can imagine how worse it had become during that 2 weeks.

Now that I'm back, the next mission is to restore my former glory - having more milk so as to fully BF Verity again.

With many prayers and fenugreek supplements.

Adventures in Taipei (Part III: 26 Dec 2007)

26 December 2007
Occasional rain (17-20 Deg C)

The weather seemed great in the morning so we planned to go to Shenkeng, the (smelly) tofu street. We needed to transfer train then transfer bus. I'm not exactly sure which bus but the travel guide was very helpful. Also, at every station, there was info on where the nearest places of interest were and how to get there. So after getting the bus info, we went to the bus stop.

After confirming with the bus driver, we hopped onto the bus. Cavan was asleep on the stroller so Clem lugged the whole stroller onto the bus. There was an electronic signboard on the bus indicating the location at every stop, so I kept a lookout to make sure we didn't miss our stop.

After about 10 min, the bus suddenly swerved into what looked like an abandoned garage. The bus driver told us to get down. I looked around the ulu place and it didn't look like what I expected. But we had to get down as this was the so-called bus terminal. I asked the driver where Shenkeng was and he randomly pointed at a direction.

So we got down and headed toward where he pointed. Clem asked me whether we were near. I seriously had no idea! Just walk, and ask for direction. But the place was so ulu, we didn't know whether there would be anyone to ask. Anyway, I was sure that we'd smell Shenkeng.

Soon it began to drizzle so we took shelter at a restaurant that appeared out of nowhere. After putting on the rain shield on the stroller (Cavan still blissfully asleep) and wrapping Verity up, we ventured out again in the rain.

In 5 mins' we began to see people, then tour buses, the we SMELT it! We found the place! Yippee! First on the agenda- lunch!

After a sumptous meal, we explored the street. There were so many titbit stalls in this small street! Rice cakes, malt candy with sesame, sesame rice balls, freshly made peanut and almond candy, preserved fruit and foods, tofu ice cream and smelly tofu! We were overwhelmed by the selection!

The smelly tofu was a must-try. It smelt bad but tasted good! The Taiwanese smelly tofu was smeared with some salty-sweet sauce and came with preserved veg. They were absolutely delicious! I had one everyday during my previous trip.

For the night, we decided to go to Raohe Night Market which was around 10 min walk from our hotel.

Raohe Night Market was teeming with different kinds of xiao chi. Pepper buns (which were meat buns with gyoza skin), chou chou guo (smelly pot- something like smelly tofu steamboat), mutton soup, Taiwanese-style roti prata. This place also had shops selling cheap clothes, shoes, cute stationery etc. I bought lots of socks here for the kids and a scarf.

Got to watch the time. Alas, too late. Verity was fidgeting before it became a full-blown cry. To take the short cut back, we could cut through the train station. The train attendant at the entrance heard her and asked if I wanted to breastfeed her. They had nursing rooms available at the station. I politely refused since we were so near our hotel. But to get to the other side, we needed to buy a ticket. The train attendant looked so apologetic. The pass-through ticket was so cheap (I think 60 cents) so we got them and went through a special gate cos we had a screaming baby.

Same routine. Rushed into the hotel. Receptionist passed us the key at the lift. Got into the hotel room. Fed. Finished. Happy. Took photo.

27 December 2007
Fair weather (15 Deg C)

Our target today was Ximending, the hip and young shopping district. Plenty of funky shops here. Yeah, and loud music too. Managed to buy shoes and a gold cardholder for myself. Clem got himself a bag for his laptop.

Couldn't help but indulge in Mr Donut. Their donuts was fantastic! Not too sweet and the doughnut had a nice chewy texture. So yummy. We got assorted minis and Cavan was fighting with me over the strawberry flavoured one. Nowadays, he was into pink and strawberry flavoured stuff. Hmph! Whatever happened to children-love-chocolate norm?

That afternoon, something happened that almost made me faint. Today being our last 2nd day, we thought we'd exchange another $100-$200 worth of NT$. We went to the bank. They did not accept S$ (surprisingly given there were many Singaporean tourists) so we used the ATM. Only certain ATM could dish out S$ so we had to go further ahead to another bank's ATM.

After Clem withdrew the money, he paused for awhile and told me blankly that he suspected he withdrew too much. How much? Well, S$1000 worth. WHAT??!! I couldn't believe my ears. We would only be here for another day and you drew out that much? Why? You are going to buy a house here issit?

Seemed that he miscalculated... Ok... suddenly I felt liberated to spend. Let's go shopping! And we went across to Far Eastern Department Store.

I deposited Clem and the kids at the basement, bought him a coffee and steamed carrot cake, and went off in my shopping spree.

The imported stuff here were cheaper. Le SportSac, Nine West... I got a Nine West bag and a cardholder. At 30% some more! Almost tempted to buy boots and clothes but restrained myself.

Went back to collect Clem and kids for dinner. Went to Bearded Zhang (Hu2xu1 Zhang1 near Houshnpi MRT) for dinner. Really popular place. We were initially not very hungry so was modest in our order. But the food was good so we ordered more. Cavan also enjoyed every morsel of his rice.

Went back to Wufenpu for more shopping. Got cheap wollen overcoat at S$50+. What a steal. Back home, they cost S$200+!

Also, managed to satisfy Clem's longing- mango ice. Said that if he didn't have this, wouldn't feel like he'd been to Taiwan. A S$2 bowl was 3 times bigger than the ice kacang back home. Guess the happiest person was Cavan who was given permission to indulge in these cold treats almost everyday.

28 December 2007
Fair weather (19 Deg C)

We only had till 3pm to go around before the airport transfer. Went to Taipei 101. Got down at City Hall station where a free shuttle service was provided. We figured we'd walk there instead. The brisk walk took us 15 min.

We had lunch there, as Taipei 101 had the biggest foodcourt. The selection was overwhelming and the portion was humongous.

We only had little time and headed back to the hotel. Soon it was time to say good bye to Taipei. It was really a friendly place with very polite people (I wonder why the politicians seemed less civilised, always see them breaking out in fights during parliament).

Taipei was also super baby-friendly, with nursing rooms even at MRT stations. And the blue seats on the MRT- they were reserved for diabled, elderly, preggies and those with children. These seats were almost always empty. Even if they were occupied, the passenger would offer me the seat the instant I entered the train. So unlike the culture in Singapore!

While waiting at the airport, dear Cavan was doing the very touristy thing. He explored all the signboards and decor and asked excitedly, "Mummy, come and take picture for me!" before posing next to whatever.

A seasoned travellor indeed! Till our next trip.

Adventures in Taipei (Part II: 25 Dec 2007)

25 December 2007
Fair weather (17 Deg C)

The weather was great, so we planned to go to Danshui, a sea-side town. The Metro ride took around 30min and we were there.

Wanted an iconic photo but Starbucks snatched all the attention. Talk about globalisation!

This little town is full of small shops and pasar malam stalls by the sea side. There is also the "Lovers' Bridge" which we didn't walk through. Visitors can take the ferry to the other side, the Fishermen Wharf, where Meteor Garden was filmed. For us, we just hung out at Jhong Jheng St and ate all sorts of munchies.

One of the few recommended places are Chez Jean, where they sell traditional wedding cakes. You can also visit the Fishball Museum, which isn't exactly a museum. It's a shop selling fish crackers.

We stopped by at a small eatery to lunch as it was time to feed Verity. Had fried bee hoon, gong wan soup, a plate of cold cuts and an ah ge. An ah ge is something like a huge soon kueh but its fillings consisted of fried tang hoon, bits of mushrooms and dried prawns. A pinkish sauce is usually poured over it. Ours had tau pok skin instead of the soon kueh skin.

What I couldn't resist having throughout the Taipei trip was milk tea. I must have at least 1 or 2 cups each day. Cold ones, hot ones, with pearls, Jamu milk tea etc. Taiwanese are health conscious. You have the option of less sweet and there are different sweetness levels.

Verity ready to rock the town!

Treated Cavan to tall ice cream. It was like yogurt ice cream but lighter and less sweet. He was so thrilled! He chose the strawerry and melon flavour and enjoyed it by the seaside. Clem and I had to "fight" with him to get a lick.

Clem and I had our treats too, albeit less healthy. We chomped on BBQ giant squid, fried mushrooms of sorts, crackers, Taiwan sausages with fish roe etc.

Get fat!

At 6+, we headed for Shih Lin Night Market, yes a place for more xiao chi. What a mistake! Given that it was Christmas night, the streets thronged with people. Illegal clothes hawkers also lined the streets with their wares and it was a nightmare trying to push the stroller through the crowd.

Home-made ice cream on chopped peanuts and peanut candy shavings wrapped in popiah skin. A real treat!

We didn't join the queue for the famous Giant Chicken Cutlet. Had it almost every night cos there was an outlet near our hotel who sold this. Would buy one whenever we headed back. Great snack!

We made our way back as it was near Verity's feeding time (around 9+). Verity was bawling and screaming by the time we reached our hotel lobby. The hotel staff were great. They observed that Verity would be crying everytime we returned. For the 2nd night, they had our room key ready so Clem dashed out from the lift, grabbed the key and dashed back into the lift. Didn't even have to tell them our room no.

Tonight, even better. The lift door opened and lo and behold! There stood the hotel staff at the lift handing us our key. We didn't even have to step out! She smiled and said, "I hear her crying already." That's what I call service!

We were having a mini Christmas celebration. Although I was supposed to feed Verity, we wanted to take a pic with the cake as Cavan was close to digging his fingers into the cake and licking the cream off and eating all that adorned the cake. Sorry, gal! Anyway, it was a cute family pic.

Bought Cavan a Christmas present. He loved Thomas the Train so this would add to his collection. Cavan was so excited to see it but the anticipation turned out differently... well, that's another story. (Clem always has a great laugh whenever he sees this Thomas the Train)

Verity happy again after feed

Enjoyed the rest of the night in a simple and warm fashion, just enjoying one another and thankful for all that we have. While the kids slept, we ate our cake, drank our coffee, ate the Giant Chicken Cutlet and cup noodles, and watching the TV prog.

Christmas Day concluded peacefully, with the whole family huddled in a bed. What warmth!

Adventures in Taipei (Part I: 23 & 24 Dec 2007)

Clem and I loved free and easy trips. We were able to explore freely, take public transport, eat at small eateries and not rush through our activities. Especially more this time, cos with 2 kids, we preferred more flexibility.

When hearing that it was going to be cold and rainy in Taipei, my Assistant CEO's PA Vivian bought Verity a woolly pink shroud with matching hat, a purple sweater and a romper (she did the same when Cavan went to Korea in 2006). Aunt Judy also bought Verity a sweater.

Verity was quite cranky in the days leading up to the trip. Suspected teething. We found that she would forget to cry in the midst of her crankiness or hunger when there was a program on TV. So I borrowed Tze Wei's DVD player just in case she got cranky during the 4-hour flight (Jetstar does not have in-flight entertainment).

23 December 2007

Fair weather (17 deg C)

Thankfully, the kids were well behaved. Verity fell asleep before we took off. She woke up later to play a while before I nursed her for the remaining 2.5 hours (no kidding!).

Cavan was occupied with play-doh, a timely Christmas present from Aunt Yo, Uncle Bernard and Bernice.

We didn't make any prior airport transfer arrangements so we thought we'd get a cab. Someone came along and offered to take us to Wan Tai where we stayed at NT$1,200 (S$57). We agreed. On hindsight, we were so trusting! Lesson: Better make arrangements next time with a reliable provider.

The travelling time between C.K.S Airport to Songshan area was around 40-45 min.The driver couldn't find the hotel initially. Not surprising why cos when we got there, we found that it was not a stand-alone building but was part of a building, tucked in next to a convenience store.

Nevertheless, the service was good and the room was very spacious with clean toilets.
After check-in, we quickly went down to grab a bite. The good thing about the hotel was its location. Very near eateries, next to a 24-hour convenience store, in front of Wufenpu (a wholesale clothes and accessories market), 10 min walk to Raohe Night Market and 10-min walk to nearest metro station.

Ordered stewed meat rice for Clem and Cavan. Got gong wan soup (something like fishball but more chewy and delicous) and yi-mian for myself.

Cavan was taking a long time to feed and Verity was hungry by then. The young female boss asked if I brought Verity's milk out. Well, yes, the milk's in me. I forgot to bring my feeding shawl out. The boss was full of sympathy for Verity. (We later noticed that Taiwanese loved babies and Verity attracted all sorts of attention.)

We decided to pack Cavan's half eaten dinner and feed him at the hotel. After feeding the 2 kiddos, we explored Wufenpu at around 9.30pm, which was usually open till quite late.

We retired at around 11pm. The 4 of us squeezing (horizontally) into a queen-sized bed. Surprisingly, we still managed to get a good sleep. I guess we weren't the sort to toss and turn in our sleep. Except for Verity, whom I had to adjust her position throughout the night. Oh well, had to feed her at night anyway.

24 December 2007

Rainy (15 Deg C)

We made plans to go indoors when there was rain and venture out for occasional rain or fair weather. Today was expected to be rainy so we decided to go the Children's Museum of Taipei.
Buffet breakfast by the hotel consisted of rice, porridge and condiments. Our kind of food so we ignored the toast and others.

Had to find our way to the Metro station in the rainy weather. For the 1st few days, we travelled to Yong Chun station. Later we found that Houshanpi station was even nearer.

Cavan was put on the stroller with a rain shield. Verity was wrapped up in her sweater. Thanks to Evan's baby carrier, Verity was happy to snuggle against our body. She was so happy, she could look around as she wished and slept as she wished. We were also hands-free and that left us plenty of hands for shopping and eating. Happy baby, happy parents.

Only the Taiwanese weren't used to the idea. Is that how we carry babies in Singapore? Would Verity's crotch area be uncomfortable? Would her legs be deformed? Suddenly I felt like a bad parent. But that was how angmohs carry their kids, what. At most, we carry her when she sleeps lor.

We got down at the next station, City Hall station. We grabbed a bite cos it was Verity's feeding time. We tried to coordinate our meal times. Had zhajiangmian, beef noodles, egg tofu soup and steamed meat dumplings.

Walked around 10 mins and looked for Eslite, a 7-storey high bookstore. Children's Museum of Taipei was housed there. I was so impressed by Eslite! So many interesting books, mags, stationery and gifts! The children's section was even more elaborate, with painting lessons and craft sessions as well.

Paid NT$300 for Cavan and NT$200 each for us to get into the Children's Museum of Taipei. It wasn't really a museum, more of a theme land for kids to learn about science, geography, life skills through their hands.

Cavan enjoyed it thoroughly. There were so many things to explore and play!
We had dinner at the swanky foodcourt while Cavan napped. Clem and I shared this huge bowl of beef hotpot for NT$100.
I also indulged in Black as Chocolate's Dark Chocolate ice cream. It was very bittersweet but absolutely yummscious. The ice cream came in a gift box so pretty and cleverly designed. Before the ice cream was eaten, it was blackout. After we finished it, the bottom of the box wrote "Lights on". So funny!

It was Christmas Eve and there were performances at the Children's Dept by a church group so we stayed on to watch. They were distributing sweets and cookies to the shoppers to publicise the performance.

At the same time, took a few pics with the Christmas light up.

Made a final dash back to the hotel for Verity's next feed and packed dinner for Cavan. Couldn't believe we spent the whole day at Eslite! Pray that tomorrow's weather would be great!

Good night!