The Story of Vesper's Birth

29 November 2010.


I still wonder how Dr could “imagine” that Vesper will pop out this day and she really did. Anyway, I went to work as usual while Clem took leave. I asked him, why are you taking leave? Are you giving birth? Anyway he brought the kids for a swim in the morning and ran errands in the afternoon.

5.45pm
He fetched me from office for our appointment at Sun Plaza. Dr has specially instructed me to see him there at 6pm. I was late. I had a missed call from Dr! I quickly retrieved the voice message, only to hear him talking to another patient in the background. Aiyo, this Dr so kancheong, consulting a patient still want to call me. Afraid that I don’t show up is it?

6.30pm
When I arrived at the crowded clinic, he called me again and asked where I was. Dr, I’m just outside! Ok, he replied satisfactorily, I thought you’re not coming.

When I got into Dr’s room, he asked, “Do you know why I called you? I called to check whether you are in pain. If yes, I will ask all the patients outside to go home.”

Whoa, suddenly I felt very important. At the same time, I thought he was a little mad. Why would he be so sure i will deliver today?

“Dr, I feel perfectly fine!”

The ultrasound showed that baby’s head was down. Very good, Dr commented, but the weight is around 2.2 kg. Quite low.

Of course low lah, I thought. Now only 37 weeks what. If carry to 40 weeks, sure normal weight.

Suddenly he turned to and said in a serious tone, “Do you know you are having contractions now?”

Knitting my brows, I tried to feel whether I was. He pointed at my belly and exclaimed, “There, there! You see, you’re having contractions! Joker lah, you.”

I retorted that tightening was very common. Clem told Dr that I’ve been having them for almost 2-3 weeks already.

He proceeded to do an internal check. I was 2-3cm dilated. I was to be put on CTG to track the contractions. So I went to the next room with clem, and the nurse strapped me up. We were cracked up how Dr called me a joker and were joking and taking pics to pass time.

7.20 pm

Then suddenly, I told clem “um, I think the contractions seem to get stronger.” He looked at the chart and reported that out of 200, my scale was 155.

Wondering why that happened, I asked whether clem saw Dr put anything when he did the check. No leh, nothing.

When I went back to Dr’s room later, he wanted to check me. Again? Anyway, still same.

“I think you won’t deliver tonight. Maybe 2-3 days’ time.” He went on to answer my query about what will happen if I pop when he’s not around.

When Clem told him that my contractions seemed stronger, Dr smiled and said it was normal and would usually happen after a check. He had to rush off for a delivery. “The baby is crowning already but never mind, she’s on epidural so can wait. Thought I’d better check you first.”

Before he left, he gave me all the instructions – go straight to hospital if I had the signs. Mine was an express case so better don’t wait till the last minute unless I wanted my hubby and son to deliver for me at home. As he was rushing, he turned around and reminded me, “And please answer your phone. I will call.” And he continued nagging at me even as he sped off.

It was the first time I hear a doctor asking the patient to pick up her phone.

8 pm

I was feeling quite uncomfortable as the contractions really were stronger. Clem was hungry so we went to the foodcourt to eat. I told him to hurry as I had a feeling that this could be IT. Just like when I was having the other two, I totally had no appetite. Clem bought me ginseng chicken soup.

After he was done, he seemed dissatisfied and asked if I wanted to eat anything else. I was mildly irritated as I felt I had to rush for time. I certainly did not want to deliver anywhere other than the hospital! Can you hurry up!

We rushed home so I could wash up, prepare and pack the bags . Called the children to prepare them that we were going to the hospital. Suddenly, Clem asked he could swing by the petrol station to pump petrol.

WHAT!!?? I’m going to pop soon and now you tell me you’re running low on petrol!!?? Why can’t you do it earlier since you were on leave?

He said never mind then.

What never mind? What if we were rushing to hospital halfway and the car couldn’t move? That’s worse! I’m not going to give birth on the road!

Our plan then was for Clem to bring the kids out to pump petrol so they won’t hover around me. Don’t think I can respond to them when the contractions kick in. I could also wash up and pack in peace.


8.45 pm

Reached home. Timed the contractions while I was doing the necessary. They were between 40 – 60 seconds with 1 min plus intervals. When clem came back with the kids, he told them that we were to going to the hospital and won’t be coming home that night. So they had to sleep in their room with Nancy. The kids were incredibly understanding and didn’t fuss. Cavan asked whether he would get to see me. Yes, tomorrow morning daddy will come and bring you to the hospital to see mummy and baby. I was so confident that baby would be out by then.

We were in such a hurry that I didn’t take my customary bikini shot, as I had with Cavan and Verity. But Verity wanted to take a pic with me.

 
Clem put the kids to bed. We said good bye and zoomed off at 9.30pm


10pm

Reached TMC. I had to stay at the admission counter to sign some documents. Later one of the recep asked, “You’re Mdm Chng?” I nodded. “Oh, Dr Ang told us to expect you.” Later she commented that I didn’t look like I was having contractions. I told her I had 3 in the past 5-8 min. I had to tahan, can’t be yelling and screaming in public, right?

Finally, I was released from withholding my pain and agony and was brought to the delivery ward. As I reached the nurses there chimed, “We have been waiting for you! Dr said you are very fast, express lane!”

I changed into my gown, the nurses did the necessary. I asked for gas and the nurse checked me. “5-6 cm. Not so soon, not so soon darling.”

I was very demoralized to hear that. After Verity broke my record having arrived 1 hr 45 min after I was in the hospital, I expected a shorter labour this time. “Gosh, is it going take me another 4-5 hours?” I thought.

I was in such a pain and I heard the nurses talking something in distress. Removing my gas mask, I asked feebly, who is in distress, what’s distress? I was fearing any complications. “Oh no, you don’t have to worry, it’s a medical term.” If it concerned me or my baby, of course I wanted to know. But another contraction came, I had to use gas so I didn’t ask further.

Shortly after, the nurse said she wanted to wheel me to the delivery room. No no, I want to walk there. I feel better walking. I had to hurry the nurse for I didn't want to be caught having a contraction while walking. Thankfully, the delivery room was very near.
By this time, I didn’t check the time, as with my other births as I didn’t want to be demotivated by how slow time is crawling.

It seemed the contractions this time were stronger. Or the gas wasn’t working. I asked the nurse, is the gas working? Why am I feeling so much pain?

Later, I heard the nurse told Clement that I was in distress, whether I was in distress previously.

By then, I was experiencing such violent contractions that I bent to the side. “Don’t twist your body, if not the baby can’t come out.” I listened to the nurse’s advice and lay on my back and to labour in that position was terrible. At one point I was thinking, “Why am I going through this AGAIN??”

I felt pressure below and was trying to push. The contractions made me raised my upper body instinctively.  Then I felt the nurse holding her hand below. I didn.t know what she was doing and somehow I felt less pressure. Clem later told me that she was trying to adjust baby’s head inside. I didn’t know what that meant.

There was busy-ness in the room. It didn't occur to me that the end is nearing as the nurse earlier told me not so soon. Even when they propped my legs up, it didn't register to me that I could pop soon.

Suddenly Dr burst into the room and exclaimed, “Whoa, I made it in time. Soann, how many pushes you want? One or two?”

He then showed Clem where he was going to cut. Clem told him that I didn’t want to cut for I heal faster without episiotomy. Dr thought for a quick second and went along with my decision.

Clem told me that baby’s head was crowning. I quickly asked him to grab the camera.

I was pushing hard and I felt I was tearing below, and a bolt of fire that shot through my right leg to my sole. It was totally unbearable and I didn’t think I could continue. But, for the split second, I thought, just get over and done with!

The next thing I knew, the baby was placed on my tummy. It was so fast, clem didn’t witness the birth. He turned to take the camera. When he turned back, the baby was already on me.

Later, when we were waiting to go to my ward, I asked clem whether my water bag burst as I didn’t recall it bursting. He said no.

Was the baby wet when she came out? No.

Was the mat wet? No.

Then what happened to my water bag?

Maybe you don’t have a water bag, said Clem.

Don’t be ridiculous, how can anyone not have a waterbag?

Later I asked Dr. He wasn’t sure either.

Till today, it remained a mystery.

Anyway, was really glad I broke my record – 1 hr 13 min upon reaching. Good job, Vesper!

Reasons for Having Three

(From 2010...)

When you are pregnant, you can expect these 3 common questions from people, even strangers:

1. How many months?
2. Is it a boy or girl?
3. It's your number...

The interesting part comes after this. People will start speculating the gender of the kid(s) you already have. The conversation continues from question 2...

Me: It's a girl.
A: It's your number...
Me: 3.
A: So you have 2 boys?

There's where assumption kicks in.

People readily assume that you're trying for a gender you don't already have, that's why you have 3 kids. So is there really a reason for having 3? Let's analyse the reasons for having 1 and 2 first.

Baby #1 happens for various reasons: Parents are ready, parents are not ready (so-called accidents), erm I can't think of anymore. Make that 2 reasons then.

Baby #2 happens for more reasons: Because the 1st one is a boy/ girl, and parents are (secretly) hoping for a different gender (Don't believe them if they say it doesn't matter); Because the 1st is lonely and needs a playmate; Because parents believe in one-to-one replacement rate (ok, I'm kidding for this one. Who seriously thinks for the nation when it comes to procreation?)

Now, Baby #3. There are parents who are really trying for a different gender if the 1st 2 are repeats. Or parents grow up in a big family and would like the same bustle around at home. Or parents simply like kids and don't mind having more.

What about OUR reason? Before it happened, I don't have a reason for having #3. One boy, one girl is already perfect. Foodcourt seats are designed for a family of 4. NDP tickets are restricted to 4. Coin-operated kiddy rides are designed for at most 2 riders. When you go on amusement rides, you go in pairs. If you live in a four-room flat, each of the kids get his/ her own room. Each of the parent holds one child, just nice.

People asked whether it was planned or accident. I said for Clem it was planned. For me, it was an accident. My gynae called it accidently planned. Whatever it was, it happened.

Now that it happened, I began to see the up-side.

Having come from a family of 2 kids, the benefit of having more siblings only occurred to me after I got married.

I realised how quiet and empty my house became after I married. That's why I tried to go back as much as I could. It got worse after mom passed away, leaving pa and bro. It's just my bro and I trying to handle family affairs together, taking care of parents' needs, and sometimes I wish there was another sibling to share, to discuss.

#3 is really God-given and a blessing. I guess there are adjustments to be made, and more expenses. And I always tell Clement that he is such a good dad that he deserved to have more children (sorry, but after this, STOP!).

I'm proud to say I'm a mom of 3. I think it's so cool. Cavan was delighted to have another sibling. As for Verity, I feel sorry for her. I really wanted her to be the baby of the family, the princess of the family. For Verity's sake, I would have felt better if #3 were a boy. But then, it's God-given and I would not have it another way.

I'm looking forward to a noisy family setting. Already, we can hardly hear ourselves talk with the 2 loudly demanding 100% of our attention. How, with one more, I always asked Clem playfully. When I see Clem fooling around with the 2 at home, I would imagine another young one toddling along and it brought so much warmth to my heart.

I'm looking forward to you joining our family, Vesper.

Akan Datang

The visit to the gynae today really made me all anxious.

I've been taking it easy with the preparation, knowing that my EDD was 21 Dec 2010. I still have a month to go. There's time! So I planned my work right down to my last working day - 20 Dec. Or so I wish.

For the visit today, I knew that Dr was going to perform an internal check. Plus I had several questions to ask him, so we didn't bring the kids along.

He confirmed that he might not be around for my delivery as he is on leave from 3 - 15 Dec. I asked him for his stand-in doctors and he provided me three names, out of which two were his good friends.

When we did a scan, he exclaimed oh good, the baby's head is down already. And after performing an internal check, he said rather matter-of-factly, "You're very open. Maybe I can get to deliver you," as he pulled out his gloves and walked back to his table.

I was stunned. "Huh, do you mean before 3 Dec or after 15 Dec?"

"Maybe before 3 Dec. Might even be this week."

Whhhhat??!!

"When you said 'very open', how many cm?" I persisted.

"You're already 2cm dilated."

So he had me scheduled to see the following Monday (29 Nov), muttering that would be the last Monday he's around. My mind was full of suspicion. I certainly hope he won't trigger labour by a vigorous internal check, like what he did for Cavan and Verity. At the same time, I was hoping he would deliver me. After all, I paid to see him, not his stand-in doctors!

Clem chuckled, "You'd better tell your colleagues on 29 Nov to be prepared not to see you in the office the next day."

I glared at him and pouted.

Well, I just hope I get to celebrate our anniversary, my birthday and watch Pinocchio the Musical with the kids before baby comes.

And try to settle my work matters by this week. And quickly start buying and washing the baby stuff, re-organise the house and wardrobe. And train the kids to sleep on their own beds, not on my bed!

So many things to think about. No wonder I can't sleep now.

A Name for #3

For the 1st time, we already had a name for our baby even before she was born.

For Cavan, we didn't check the gender so we prepared a list of boy and gal names. Cavan was shortlisted and he had the Cavan look, so it was perfect.

The name Verity was not in the list of names when we had Cavan. I was inspired cos I knew someone named Verity and she was a sweet person. And the name was so sweet, and not a hybrid. And you can find it in a dictionary.

This time round, we decided to start early a few months ago. I polled the stakeholders and asked what name is nice for our baby. The following names came up:

Hannah - suggestor: Cavan. Not a bad name. Biblical too. Why did you choose this name, I asked. Bcos I like Hannah Montana, he said. Strike off.

Sarah - suggestor: Verity. No particular reason. But too common, I said. So, strike off.

After this came many suggestions. Eventually, Cavan the ingenious one exclaimed with a sparkle in his eyes.

"I know, I know! We combine my name and Verity's name. We call our baby Cavity!"

We laughed and ruffled his hair. He was so innocently pleased with his contribution until we told him what that meant.

We were still in search of a name, preferably starting with "V". I jokingly told Clem that since I can't have my dream scooter, Vespa, I might as well name our baby Vespa.

This name got stuck. And I was getting serious. And Clem thinks I'm being ridiculous.

Later, I remembered that there was an English word "Vesper". I checked and got the following:

1. Vesper Martini is a cocktail that was originally made of gin, vodka, and Kina Lillet.

Oops, ok, I like Martini but I don't think this is a selling point if I need to convince Clem.

2. the evening star, esp. Venus; Hesper.

3. Also called vesper bell . a bell rung at evening.

4. a) a religious service in the late afternoon or the evening.

b) the sixth of the seven canonical hours, or the service for it, occurring in the late afternoon or the evening.

c) Roman Catholic Church . a part of the office to be said in the evening by those in major orders, frequently made a public ceremony in the afternoons or evenings of Sundays and holy days.

d) evensong

5. evening

It didn't sound so bad after all. I smsed Clem that I've decided to name baby Vesper.

He: What? I'm not going to name my baby after a scooter.

I: It's not Vespa, it's Vesper

He: What does it mean?

I: It means evening

He: First, it sounds like a scooter. Now, in the dark some more. Cannot cannot, sounds like a rebel.

Grrrr... so dense!

Then one night, something happened that I was convinced it was a sign.

I was sleeping when suddenly I awoke in the middle of the night, humming a familiar tune I used to sing during my Girl Guide days. Remembering some of the words, I did a quick google and got the following result:

Scout Vespers

I should feel spooked at this time. Instead, I was elated!

I shared with Clem excitedly the morning he awoke. He was skeptical. Then I recited the lyrics to him. Meaningful right? Meaningful right? It's so reflective.

Ya ya ya, was his way of entertaining my ridiculous outburst.

Anyway, I was a good persuader and salesman so eventually he got used to the idea. I kept calling our baby Vesper, to get him into it. Clem said now the name has a nice ring to it.

I shared the name with our kids. Cavan wrinkled his nose and asked "What, it sounds like a TV show!"

Curious, I asked which show had Vesper?

"Vesper Housewives, your favourite show!"

This boy is really funny. Desperate Housewives lah, I corrected him.

Anyway, here are the lyrics to Scout Vespers.

Scout Vespers

Softly falls the light of day,
While our campfire fades away.
Silently each scout should ask:
"Have I done my daily task?
Have I kept my honor bright?
Can I guiltless sleep tonight?
Have I done and have I dared
Everything to be prepared.?"

Listen Lord, oh listen Lord,
As I whisper soft and low,
Bless my Mom and bless my Dad,
There is something they should know.
I have kept my honor bright.
The Oath and Law has been my guide.
Mom and Dad, this you should know,
Deep in my heart I love you so.

Pierced

Verity has been bugging us for earrings since she was less than 2 years old. I was hesitant as she has itchy fingers and I was afraid that she would meddle with her ear studs and hurt her earholes.

Moreover, she was always climbing about and jumping around, so the chances of hurting herself were higher.

She had to make do with toy clip-on earrings. And we would end up losing one of the pair.

In May this year, we passed by B'dazzled. Her daddy, struck by spontaneity, asked whether she wanted to pierce her ears. I was irritated and glared at him. Didn't we agree we'll do when she turns three, I muttered to him. Never mind lah, came his reply.

For Verity, once you asked, there was no turning back. She said yes! happily. I had to set her expectations. No crying, no meddling with earrings, be careful when combing hair and playing. She said yes yes yes to my naggings.

The decision was made under 3 min.

We went in and informed the lady that Verity was not yet three. The lady replied cheerfully, no problem. Her cheerfulness and mannerisms gave me the confidence that she could handle a young child.

She talked to Verity excitedly and asked her pick out her fav ear stud. Verity chose what she called "pink baby diamonds". And we were all set.

Suddenly, I had cold feet. What if they pierced one side and she started bawling and refused to do the other side? I stood outside the counter to stop myself from interfering. I was NERVOUS.

The lady was very professional. SHe asked another attendant to assist her. While speaking to Verity very kindly, she informed Verity that she was going to put "ice cream water" to her ears.

After that, she counted to three and both she and the attendant pireced Verity's ears together.

So clever, I thought.

She explained that for kids, they usually pierced two together.

All this while, Verity sat straight as a lady, without a flinch, without a cry. So cool, my baby.

Even weeks after, when there was blood on her ears, she didn't complain and didn't say a word. Not even when there was a sting or pain when we cleaned her open wound.

She took it all in a stride. Because it was a decision she made.

Letters

Since last year, Cavan was into writing letters. For Clem and me, for his friends. It's wonderful to receive letters from him as he will tell us how much he loves us.

Well, the letters to us aren't exactly letters, if you compare what he writes to his friends. For ours, he uses post-its, so I guess those are more like love notes.

For his friends, he fills up an A4-sized paper and it goes into an envelope.

Sometimes he shows us what he wrote. Sometimes he just passes to his friends directly. So we don't really know what else he conveys to his friends.

Here are a few samples I managed to snap photos of. I think they are really cute.

He wrote this in Sep 2009 when he was in Nursery 2. The recipient was a K2 gal who he chose to sit with from time to time. (According to the bus auntie, many kids want to sit with him so he gets to choose who he wants to sit with.) It happened that this gal was sick thus was unable to sit with him for fear of spreading germs.She was very kind to write a letter to explain. Here, Cavan reciprocated with a letter, affirming that he was still her friend.

The next one is more recent. Dated 29 Sep 2010. I'm really not sure if this should go to the gal. What would the parents think? Well, I figure that since many letters have passed us by without our knowledge of the contents, I'll just let him go ahead.

And this letter goes nicely into a recycled envelope. He likes it because it's colourful. And on it, he boldly claims that he is her best friend.

So, will the letters ever get him or us into a situation? Not yet a sticky one, I'd say. There was once I received an sms from a parent, responding to Cavan's request on a letter. What's it all about? More on that later.

Right now, I'm just crossing my fingers that the parents of the above recipient will not complain about harrassment.

#3

2 Learning Points:
1. Do not jump up the Ladder of Inference. It could cost you a life.
2. They do not sell rubber in Japan (or Hakone's) convenience stores.

This test was taken on 22 Apr 2010. In the office.

I didn't really feel like going out for lunch. So decided to pack. As I passed by Watson's, clouds formed in my head. Should I just buy one and test? I picked the cheapest kit from the shelf.

As I returned to office, I didn't even care about the lunch. I tested in the toilet. Left the stick in on the table while I log on, pretending not to care. When the results showed, my head was in a muddle, my thoughts jumbled up. I tried reading the instructions over and over again, but the words just flew past my head. My hands were trembling.

My colleague, A, was in the office. I asked her to read the instructions. And to see my stick.

"It says you're pregnant."

So here comes #3.

Tokyo (21 Mar 2010 - 1 Apr 2010)

Another free-and-easy trip to Japan, this time Tokyo! Would be my third trip there. Unlike our Hokkaido trip, we didn't do a fly-drive as it was not worth doing so in Tokyo. Getting around was fairly easy. We also made a 2-day trip to Hakone, which was a lovely quaint place. Should have spent more days there.

When we arrived at Narita Airport, we went to buy NEX tickets to get to Shinjuku station. When the train arrived, we promptly got up and found ourselves four seats. We settled in comfortably. Until someone came and mentioned apologetically that we have taken his seat. What? You mean the seats are assigned? We had no clue. What was revealed to us next gave us a big shock.

The car we were in was not headed for Shinjuku but another city! We had one more station's time to get ourselves (plus 2 big luggages, 1 stroller and one big backpack) across 5 cars before the train split. Either we make a mad dash when the train pulled over, or we start shifting ourselves. We decided on the latter.

We brought the kids and the stroller over first. Then Clem went back to pick up the 2 luggages. I was so worried that he couldn't make it in time and we'd be headed towards different cities. Thank God he did!

Hotels

I booked several hotels through Wotif, which was wonderful for I can see the rates going at different periods of time. If we were to book more than three days, usually there is a special rate.

The first 4 nights, we stayed at Citadines Shinjuku apartments, which was 15-20 min walk to Shinjuku station or 5 min walk to Shinjuku-Sanchome station. I liked it as it was spacious, with a kitchenette and a living area. I could cook there and there was an area for us to have our supper. There's also a park nearby which was great for a walk and pictures. If we walk down to Shinjuku station, we will pass by a lot of eateries and a Hello Kitty shop.



We stayed at different hotels as we wanted to explore different areas in Tokyo. We spent 2 nights in Asakasa Sunroute, 1 night in Hakone Suimeisou and the remaining in Sunroute Shinjuku. It was a lot of hassle carting our luggages and barang on the train. When we made the trip to Hakone, we parked our stuff at Sunroute Shinjuku and used one luggage.

Hakone

We wished we stayed longer here. There were many things to explore. By the time we reached Hakone after a 2-hour ride on the Odakyu train, it was past noon. By the time we got out it was almost 4pm and had started snowing.

Cavan was so excited, he began twirling round and round to catch the falling snowflakes while we waited for the bus at the bus stop. There was a group of Singaporean young adults there and they absolutely adored Cavan! When the bus came, there was slight trouble - Verity had fallen asleep on the stroller and we had to fold the stroller. So I carried Verity up while Clem carried the stroller and handled Cavan. Thankfully people gave up their seats to us.

Before long, the bus was stuck on the road as it tried to make its way uphill. Apparently, it was snowing so hard, vehicles kept slipping down the road. We were in limbo. I tried to understand what the driver was communicating. We were stuck on the bus for almost 2 hours. I got quite worried, whether we would be able to get back in that snow. It was past our dinner time. A kind Korean lady gave Cavan some rice crackers. Worse still, Cavan started complaining that he was feeling urgent.

Eventually I got news that the bus couldn't travel anymore. We had to get off and walk to the nearest train station which was 25 min away. Quite challenging to walk in the snow, pushing the stroller, holding the umbrella. First we had to find a toilet for Cavan and stopped by a convenience store. 

Finally we got to the train station and while waiting, Clem and the kids had fun snowfighting. What a day! We so enjoyed the rest of the time in Hakone because of the snow.

Checking out the opening hours for the hot bath since we paid bath tax, must make full use!

Love this. Some mochi stuff with brown sugar syrup

Our breakfast served in room

Eating ice cream on a cold day is fun!

He, Japanese boy?

We encountered a hilarious incident. We were walking into an elevator in Takashimaya when a lady (in her late twenties) gushed over Cavan saying to her male companion "Look, Japanese boy, so cute!" She was undoubtedly a Singaporean as I recognised the accent. Then she went on to ramble about cuteness of Japanese kids, using Cavan as a reference.

I was not about to correct her, to avoid embarrassment, and to let her carry on with her adoration. Anyway, we won't see each other again.

THEN, Cavan blurted out, "Aiya, my leg veli itchy. I want to scratch!"

I didn't know how to respond. The lady's look was priceless. I didn't know who was more embarrassed - she or me.

I still laughed over that incident.

Strollers and Elevators

In Japan, they were very strict about strollers not going on the escalator. We travelled with a stroller and spent most of our time looking for an elevator. It was a major hassle! The elevators were situated at ends of buildings, sometimes another building!

Tired of walking about looking for it sometimes, Clem would carry up the stairs, with either one kid sleeping in it, with loads of winter clothes piled on.

Other times, we simply pushed the stroller up the escalator. Japanese frowned at such an act as if it were an abominable sin. We learnt to be thick-skinned. Afterall we are tourist. Certain rules do not apply to us. (Ok bad tourist)

I vowed to Clem the next time we travel, we needn't use the stroller anymore! The kids would have outgrown the stroller. At most for winter clothes, we'll lug a cabin luggage to walk around. More mobile than a stroller. Hurray!


Places

The kids had fun in Disneyland. But they feared the fireworks so they practically had their eyes and ears covered. What a waste!

Puroland is a place where girls will go gaga. Verity had fun exploring Hello Kitty's house. I couldn't resist buying the stuff too!

Inokashira Park Zoo was a nice place for kids to get close to small animals. A nice walk in the great weather!

Other usual places such as Odaiba, Meiji Shrine, Shibuya (with the 7- storey toy shop) etc. I'm starting to miss Japan already!

Supper

We had supper every night in the hotel room. It was fun to get all sorts of munchies and Japanese beverages and just chill in the hotel room. The supermarket usually slash their food prices by as much as 50% sometimes so we couldn't resist!

These are the snapshots of the trip. Till the next one!