Nesting Instincts

These past few weeks have been nothing short of stressful. I'm currently 34 weeks pregnant going on 35 this Saturday, and until about two weeks ago, I still had nothing ready in our room for the baby!

It wasn't until I threw a fit that Jerry finally decided to hop into action. Within a day, he rearranged the entire room by taking out our closet and a chunky low table/drawer. That was just the first step. Next, we faced the challenge (or rather I did) of cleaning the whole room. And by that, I mean that I actually wiped EVERYTHING- including all the walls, down to the very last wire.

I'd been shopping around online for IKEA's Sundvik cot, which we both saw in the store and liked. But for some time, we couldn't find any decent secondhand Sundviks either on Carousell or Gumtree. Until the last minute!

We got a new cot from Carousell for 150 SGD, including the mattress. Fortunately for us, the seller's twin babies had refused to sleep in their cot since they were born. IKEA's selling this cot at 249 SGD and a pretty banged up version in their As Is section was selling for 130 SGD without the mattress in both cases. So I'd say we got a pretty sweet deal!

After much begging and pleading with a husband who really didn't see the need to get a new chest of drawers, he finally relented and we got this (brand new) Hemnes from IKEA. It's probably the most expensive thing we've bought for the baby so far, apart from the package with the gynae. I think it cost 269 SGD? Everything else, including the diaper changing pad you see on the drawers, I got secondhand through Carousell :)

As I'm getting bigger by the day, I've been finding it really hard to get out of the house. I just feel so unmotivated when I think about having to take the MRT. Seats are not always guaranteed and the weather is just too hot and humid.

I just don't feel like my old self these days. I did not use to be so... spoiled. But this last trimester is no joke at all. I just find myself wanting to rest more instead of pushing myself to my physical limits.

Also, the occasional urge to vomit isn't something that I want to deal with in crowded Singapore.

Thank God that Jerry is very understanding and tries his best to make things as convenient and comfortable for me as possible. For example, I know he doesn't like to drive, but he would drive me anywhere if I asked, just because :)

Once the drawers and cot were in place, I set about unpacking my suitcases full of baby things. And just like a daughter of my mom, I ironed EVERYTHING after putting them in the laundry. Including the baby's handkerchiefs...

And then labelled everything...

Ironing his clothes wasn't as exhausting as actually sorting through them and organizing them methodically in my head. And actually ironing made it easier to fold and pile them neatly in the drawers.

I still have a few random things to get, but otherwise, I think I'm set!

I can see him kick through my clothes very clearly now. Every hour or so, I would get either a strong shove in my right belly (from his feet), or pummeling, or some awkward stroking action from within my belly. I like it when I'm being still, but it's definitely weird and uncomfortable when I'm trying to do some *ahem* business, or eat.

Anyway, I know his days in my belly are numbered and I should enjoy what's left of them. 

Life is going to change for sure, even as it already has!

Growing Excitement

My mom texted me this morning with a photo of her "loot" from across the Atlantic.

Can I just say, I'm SOOOOO excited to start buying stuff for our little one?! Especially after walking around the giant Mothercare store in Harbourfront with Lizzie yesterday evening. She's already gotten her stroller and some clothes, but all I've done is read a bunch of books.

Haha!

I've started to compare prices across Target, Walmart, Mothercare here and some other online stores like Amazon, Qoo10 and even Gumtree. I don't mind secondhand stuff at all, but it seems that most of it has already been given away now that half the people my age group are popping babies every other week.

Can't wait to fly back and walk down the lovely aisles at Target again! 

黑店 (Black Shop) In Funan

So recently, I started playing Starcraft. Thanks to J of course. 

Initially, I was a bit reluctant to try because I know I have a tendency to get addicted to computer games. 

Well, eventually I gave in. 

Gotta say, it's a HEAP OF FUN!!! 

Soon after getting hooked to SC2, I decided to get a mouse. 

This one. 

J and I headed to Funan Digitalife Mall where he got his DeathAdder 2013 the week before. He got it at the full price of $99 at Game Marts, while i decided to get mine at Challenger for $96+ (thanks to the membership discount).

And of course, if I got a mouse, I would have to get a good mousepad too right? 

Challenger's price for this mousepad was $16+ with a 10% membership discount available. However, they were sold out of the No. 9 Armaggedon mousepads, so we went walking around Funan looking for other shops that had it. 

Many shops that we went to did not have No. 9 in stock. Still, we asked for average prices and they all hovered around $16+. 

Finally, we found ONE No. 9 mousepad in this shop called Dell by Addon. 

I was so happy, I picked up the box immediately and looked for the cashier. There was only one guy working at the tech desk, so I asked him to check the price for the mousepad. He signalled for me to wait then walked over to a man near the entrance of the shop who appeared to be the boss. 

Guess what was the price he quoted me? 

$79.90

I KID YOU NOT. 

I saw the look on the boss' face and realised he was assessing our profiles to see whether we could be "knocked" for more money. 

Being a good-natured friendly dude (I was not so patient- I already demanded to leave), J asked the tech guy if he could check once more if the price was correct. Perhaps he had heard wrongly. 

Tech guy goes off to check the price. Comes back with the same exact quote for $79.90. 

Furious at the shop's blatant cheating methods, I retorted to the tech guy: "DO YOU KNOW EVERY SHOP IN FUNAN IS SELLING THIS MOUSEPAD FOR $16???"

Guess what was the cute little excuse he gave me? 

"I'm sorry but when we ordered the mousepad, it was a long time ago and we ordered it at the price of $79.90"

Uh yeah okay. A quick price check online will show what the average price of the Aegis Falcon mousepad really is. $16+ NOT $79.90.

Gosh if they're able to quote such prices for a mousepad, I shudder to think what they're quoting for the other more expensive products in the store. 

Moral of the story: CAVEAT EMPTOR. 

& 

DO NOT SHOP AT DELL BY ADDON. 

Hongdae Hongdae 홍대

Whew my posts are all gonna be so backdated because I still have so much stuff to write about that I haven't yet! 

After looking through the photos that I took in Seoul, I realised that I didn't take that many photos after all. Not only that, but the photos that I took were all kinda rushed and look "dislocated". Kinda regret not taking more photos now, but I guess I just wasn't in the photo-taking mood during the time that I was there. 

Oh welps. Just have to make do with what I have. 

This post will be about my favourite place to hang out in Seoul- HONGDAE!

Why is it my favourite? 

Well, the first reason is kind of a no-brainer. It's because Hongdae has the ONLY arcade in the WHOLE of Seoul that has a DDR machine!

The arcade is called Dream Game Land, and it is located somewhere on Sinchon-ro, nearest to exit 3 of Hongik University Station.

I found out about this arcade through the Internet because yes, I went online to look for an arcade to play DDR at while I was in Seoul. 

Still gotta exercise while I pig out you know? 

Anyway, the website didn't give me much details about the location of Dream Game Land, except that it was located in the Donggyo-dong area. So, it was a little like asking me to go look for a karaoke bar in Chinatown... Totally useless!

When I got off the subway at Hongik, I literally walked around for thirty minutes with my translation app and phrasebook out. I asked about a dozen Korean people (in my broken Korean no less) if they knew where Dream Game Land arcade was, and they all gave me the same blank stare. 

......Dots.....

Just when I was starting to feel like Dream Game Land did not actually exist, I saw a drunk-looking dude wearing a Harvard sweatshirt, so I approached him and asked if he could speak English. He could, just barely, but it was enough for him to point me in the right direction. Thankfully, I had found a Youtube video that someone took of walking on the street towards Dream Game Land, and the drunk-looking dude was able to identify the street just by watching the video. 

As I walked away, I thought to myself: "his Harvard sweatshirt must be a fake" LOL

 Imagine my excitement and elation upon finding the arcade?!

The arcade is actually located in a really small and old basement. The whole place smells kind of sketchy and I'm pretty sure no one has wiped those railings in months.

Propped against the wall are the two machines that I've been looking forward to! 

On the left is a Pump It Up Pro 2 machine. Like most machines in Korea, it smelled kinda funky. Still, it's really cheap compared to Singapore. Only about SGD$0.50 per game / 3 songs.

The only DDR machine in Seoul happens to be the latest version that they have out of the 3 DDR machines in the whole of Korea. Sadly, that version, SuperNOVA2, is a really outdated one. Here in Singapore, we are kept up to date with the latest- DDR2013. SuperNOVA2 is like... dinosaur-aged, being four versions behind DDR2013. It was released in 2008, so can you imagine how old it is?

The panels are in terrible condition. I barely hit any AAs during that week. I was lucky to even hit an A. But after playing on this terrible platform, I think my accuracy improved, because I was forced to be more careful with my stepping on these insensitive panels.

SuperNOVA2 had a strange feature that I had never encountered before. Getting to choose your character before playing!

I thought it was kinda lame... Haha!

In most arcades, there are karaoke boxes for you to go in and sing. I wish Singapore had this! A real K-box, instead of the super expensive K Box that cheats people's monies every weekend.....

Alright. The second reason why I like Hongdae so much is because it has a really funky vibe to its streets. 

There's graffiti everywhere.

Like everywhere.

And I like that Korean graffiti is fun and quirky. It doesn't seem to take itself seriously, and is not half as depressing looking as its NYC counterparts. I really had fun walking around, trying to decipher all that "street art" and its inherent meanings.

Hongdae has about a gadzillion cafes, with Coffee Prince being one of the famous ones. I found it smuggy and pretentious. Smuggy's not a real word, but you know what I mean.

I don't know why people kept telling me that Hongdae was great for shopping. It's true that there is a great variety of shops here selling offbeat fashion pieces. But it's also true that the price tags on most things here are slightly higher than elsewhere. 

There's a little Korean ramen shop in Hongdae that I became the Foursquare mayor of.

The first time I stepped in there, I was alone, hungry and in need of something spicy. So, I asked the dude in the kitchen for something "맵다".

He did not hold back man... My ramen was so spicy OMO, my eyes are tearing just thinking about how spicy it was!

At first I thought I was the only one experiencing this searing, tear-inducing pain. But when I looked at the other people in the restaurant, I realised that I was not the only one crying and sniffling into my food. It made me feel a bit better about myself LOL!

I came here to eat on a separate day with Hyoju.

We both laughed and cried into our food that afternoon. But oh! It was sooooo 맛있다!

For the Hello Kitty lovers...

There's the very pink Hello Kitty Cafe tucked away in an unassuming street.

More pink awaits you inside the cafe...

There's a small corner selling Hello Kitty merchandise.

Hello Kitty silhouettes everywhere.

Upstairs is another pink seating area.

More merchandise shelved up there too.

I waited a really long time for my pathetic order to arrive. Like fifteen minutes? 

Really? It takes fifteen minutes to make a green tea latte and take out the piece of chocolate cake that you have on display?

Maybe it's because I don't like Hello Kitty that much.

I mean I think it's cute.

But I have no qualms about making her face disappear off my green tea latte foam.

Korean street food is a dieter's nightmare. The sausages are so good, I would have eaten five in a row had I more stomach space leftover from lunch!

This shop reminds me South Street in Philly.

Have you ever watched the Kdrama, Mary Stayed Out All Night 매리는 외빅중? 

Well, this is the shop that Mary's dad worked in the show! I recognised it immediately as I was strolling by. Was so excited that I entirely forgot to try the dukbokki there.

A lovely flower display outside a shopping centre.

Hyoju and I spent about half an hour in this shop looking through accessories and stuff. The prices were bearable, which is why we stayed so long.

Hongdae's actually more well-known for its Japanese restaurants. Here is one of the more famous ones, but we were deterred by the line outside.

I actually did not take a single picture of Hongdae in the night!

To be fair, I didn't like Hongdae at night as much as I did in the day. Too many noisy angmors spoiling the atmosphere at night. Not to mention, I don't feel as safe since I was walking around alone.

Spotted: a funny poster outside a T-shirt shop. Why must they censor the children's eyes??? LOL!

Hyoju brought me to this design building where there's a shop on the first floor.

Designer bookmark.

Kinda regret not buying it now.

I found Кошка in one corner... T^T 

Sigh... I miss her so much... Wonder what she's doing now.......

Really looks like Jersey City / NYC doesn't it? 

While I was there, spring had not arrived in force yet, but some trees had begun to bloom.

I wish I were there this week or next to see all the trees and bushes in full blossom.

And here's a weird but cool building next to Hapjeong Station.