Maternity Leave - Week 1

I finally got a hold of Mr M's laptop so that I can finally come online & have a moment of 'me time'.

Maternity leave so far has been somewhat costly. I have been doing lots of shopping for baby clothes all at discounted prices of course. Yesterday, Mr M & I walked into matchbox and finally found the set of Anolon cookware that we have been drooling over for a while now and saw that it was at least 60% off (cheaper than Ebay!!). To top it off, we also bought an entire Scanpan titanium forged knives set! The total damage was just over $700! We bargained with the staff for them to throw in things for free like the knife sharpener (RRP $60!) & steak knives (RRP $80) & Scanpan's scissors at half price! So yes, we were happy campers although I definitely suffered some post purchase dissonance afterwards. Now I'm hoping with my Donna Hay cookbook, I will learn to cook up a storm of good quality food for my 'little' family during my maternity leave :)
The funny thing was, Mr M said to me, this will be a present he will get for me as a post delivery present (which happens to also coincide with our 3rd wedding anniversary coming up). I chuckled and said 'I can see a trend.. all the things you give me nowadays has to do with cooking just so I can use it to feed you! :)' What a smart husband hey?!

Anyway, work wise, I haven't been letting go! This week at Coles marks the launch of my baby that I've been working on for over 2months. It's basically National Oral Health Week in Australia this coming Monday. Knowing this, I convinced my buyer to basically give me a full catalogue page featuring some very HOT specials on Oral B (basically 25% off the entire Oral B range excluding Powerbrush range). About 3wks ago, he also asked me to come up with the content for the catalogue page. I forward to him what I thought would be great to feature in the catalogue (eg Educational blurp on Step 1 Toothbrush, Step 2 Toothpaste etc) & finally yesterday when I got my Coles catalogue in the mailbox, I looked at the page & VOILA, he had used EVERY SINGLE WORD that I gave him as part of Oral Health Week at Coles! Oh I was super proud!! To think that my inputs have been rolled out nationally in Australia! I couldn't be more happier. Apparently everyone in P&G was stoked to see the catalogue page too.
You can check out the catalogue by going onto the Coles website, then click on Catalogue tab and enter your postcode (eg. 3150) (flip to the dental special page & you will see Oral B dominating the entire page! woo hoo!). Do check it out before it expires next Wed night! My 1 week of fame I like to call it :)

Pregnancy so far has been a little bit difficult. For the first time ever, I finally had my experience of Braxton Hicks (aka false labour). It was very much like bad period pain which come and go every 5mins from 4pm-10pm continously! Gosh I thought I was ready to deliver this baby but knew it was false labour b/c the contractions didn't get any more intense like the real thing.

Spending every bit of time with Z has also been challenging. For some bizarre reason, he has been extremely clingy to me. I wants me to carry him every where. He only wants me to put him to sleep & at meal times, he always want to sit on my lap making it impossible for me to eat. The other day Chai's little man came over to visit too & Z was just filled with jealousy. He wanted me to take all his toys away from Rykan & started crying when I said 'no you have to share'. A good glimpse of what is to come.. haiz.. I can see him being more and more mischievous by the day. Terrible 2's are just around the corner I guess. I definitely do love spending time with Z but it can be at times over bearing especially when I can't even do anything without him crying for my attention.

Gosh I can't wait until we see our folks tomorrow especially receiving all the gifts they bought us too of course! I know Z have really missed them too!

Pregnancy 2: 38 weeks! 等待

Ok so I'm on my 38th week of gestation & I've finally finished work! Praise God! A lot of ppl have called me insane for dragging it out as long as I did. Would I do it again? Absolutely not! Next time I think I will finish up at least 4wks out cos I really felt so drained out from the 37th week onwards.

Anyway, pregnancy now is becoming even worse. I get bad reflux now that my tummy literally expands from my ribcage. I have no more room left! This means I actually eat a lot less now. A small bowl and I'm done cos I literally can not digest. I really have no appetite for food. I dread eating actually because indigestion has become a major problem. Sometimes I can feel the acid in my throat when it should be in my tummy! The food just doesn't seem to make its way down! sigh.. I think 2 nights ago must've been my world record in going to the toilet; I think I got up at last 8 times to go to the loo. God is truly training me for the inevitable wake up calls from my little one really soon...

This week, I can feel my little one's head engaged in my cervix b/c as soon as I woke up the next day, I could feel like as if there is this 'wedge' feeling in btw my legs making it impossible to walk like a normal human being. I try my hardest not to waddle like a penguin but it's not easy olright.. Bleh! Only 2wks of penguin walking to do I guess...

I find that being pregnant gives you so many scenarios of contradictions. From the moment you see the double line, you are hit with this overwhelming joy that you're finally pregnant! But then immediately you also realise that you have 9 months to prepare for the invitable painful labour! Then whilst you're pregnant especially during the last month, you can not wait until you get this baby out of you so that you can finally get some sleep! But the reality is, when the bub is out, you get absolutely no sleep! You and your partner are also feel with immense joy to welcome this little one into your world but the truth is as soon as he/she comes out, you & your partner will be spending less & less time together. Instead, the two of you will at times irritate each other due to the lack of sleep. Life is funny isn't it?

Anyway, I have already washed all of my little one's clothes/blankets/wraps/mittens/socks etc etc (80% of which are Z's and 20% new) & have put them nicely away in her new Tall Boy which we bought off ebay for $135 (made of beautiful pine wood too! it was such a bargain!). We've also bought the double kit for our Phil & Teds pram as well as Z's toddler car seat (so that his old one can be transfered to his mei mei :) Now all Mr M needs to do is install Z's old baby seat to face rear view which he tells me he will do when I'm staying in the hospital. What a contrast to the last time when it was all done on the 38th week....

Tomorrow, I will be handing my laptop back to work. So this means I won't be blogging as much... and with bub #2, I can't even seem to see the day that I will be blogging again. Nonetheless, be patient, I shall return back to cyberspace once in a while to catch up on my glimpse of the world.

Thanks to everyone who have sent in their kind wishes & prayers so far. I will need every prayer I can get for the next few weeks ahead. Please please please keep me in your prayers for a smooth, quick & pain 'tolerating' delivery!! Thank you in advance! Now bring on the labour!! I want her out now!! :)

Pregnancy 2: 37 weeks!

Tomorrow will be my official last day of work before I take 7 months off! Yes I was meant to finish next Friday but seriously P&G is working me too hard even though they said I was supposed to take it easy. Everyone seems to want a piece of me even though my replacement has fully transitioned already. Grr.. so I got my gynae to write a letter for me to go on sick leave next week. OMG I can't wait to finally stop work cos I have so much to do to prepare for the little one's arrival.

For all your readers, this means my mobile # will be changing since I will no longer have a work one. I will FB message to you with the new number :)

Anyway, an update on the pregnancy:

As soon as Monday night arrived this week, I could literally feel my baby grow twice her size. All of a sudden, shortness of breath has worsened. Sleeping at night is just impossible. I would lie there staring in the dark tossing & turning for hours! Then going to work looking like a zombie.

Many of my colleagues thinks I will pop before August even hits based on the size of my watermelon. Really? do you actually think so? A lot of them are betting on the dates that I will be popping. Too funny.

I've since put on 13kg at 70kg (yikes I hate it when the scale hits the 7 mark). This time around, my hands and legs have not swelled up as much as when I had Z. I can still wear my wedding ring which is great considering that wasn't the case with my 1st pregnancy! My face has remained the same (not as chubby as last time). In fact a lot of ppl who sees the top half of me doesn't even think I'm pregnant until I get up. This has happened at work, in restaurants etc.

But, I definitely feel my hips & butt area expanding. I've since gone up an undie size & realised it's still a tad too tight cos it's making marks on my skin. So this means I'll have to go 2 sizes up thanks to my fat arse hips! not happy Jan!

My test result for Strep B swap came back negative! woo hoo! which means I don't need to be on antibiotic drip when I'm in labour. The less needle poking my hands the better! I hope to be able to move around this time around vs being bound on the hospital bed the entire labour like the first time. I still have low BP & is slightly anaemic (just great!). Baby's head is down but has not officially engaged in the cervix yet. She is also still in the posterior position. Sigh.. Oh & yes Dr Chew also advised Mr M & I to be 'naughty' again to kickstart labour. Moreover, she was deliberately making Mr M go red by saying 'are you blushing already?'. LOL.
Click here to see a comparison of my 37th week of pregnancy with Z 2yrs ago.

Anyway, not long to go now.. baby can come any time from 38weeks onward which is next week. So I guess it's time to twiddle my thumbs & play the guessing game again...oh & I better start backing my bags along with Z's as well! I am sooo not organised.

Any last words of advise for all you mummies out there cos I'm absolutely petrified to go back for round 2 of PAIN?! ARGHHHHH!! WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

House: The Front Yard

Imagine living in a house where your front yard looked like this for nearly 1 whole year!! Add another imagery of rain, mud & heels? yes, they go very well together.. NOT! At last, our yard was finally completed in March this year and we couldn't be happier (even though it costed us a total of approx $16K to fix up the yard using two different companies. Ouch!). But it was all so worth it.

Mr M picked the concrete to be exposed aggregate (of course it had to be the most expensive one available!). I picked the colour grey (as opposed to white). Both of us picked the materials & colours for our yard and thank God it came out really impressive!

Here is the transformation :)

Hot Hot Hot! Of course I'm referring to the weather.. lol.

Finally we have a driveway! no more mud stuck on my shoes on a rainy day. Hooray!


Throw to that the green plants, mulch & white stones..



Noice!

I used to think we would live in this house for no more than 3yrs. But since we've invested so much into it, I think it will be for a min of 5 years! I just love coming home every single day especially walking on my driveway!

After we finally finished the renovations, we couldn't help but notice that even our surrounding nosey neighbours always stare at our yard. Each time people walked past our block, they would point to the rocks, the colours of the mulch, the driveway etc and comment on it. Ahhhhh... I just love making my neigbours covet :)

Zachariah at 22 months!

I'm a little bit teary that Zach has turned 22months because I know this his last month of getting sole attention before his little sister arrives next month. Mr M & I have spoiled him a little bit extra this month b/c we know soon he won't be the only baby of the house any more. By spoiling him we mean none other than giving him his beloved junk food to eat. Anything he wants, I will allow it because I know he won't know what's hit him when his mei mei arrives!

I stare at him at times especially when he's sleeping and feel saddened knowing that mummy will be spending less time with him. I shed some tears because I know mummy will no longer be able to give him undivided attention very soon. I am also astounded by how much Z has grown both physically & mentally. Didn't we just bring him home from the hospital the other day? You really do notice how much time flies when you see how much your child(ren) has grown.

Anyway, enough of my emo talk. Here are his developments:

1) HE LOVES HIS ICE CREAM of which he still pronounces as 'I-Key' - he associates his wai gong/poh with ice cream b/c it was them who first introduced him to the world of something that can be so cold but yet so yummy. So every time he's on the phone to them, the first thing he will say is hello Poh Poh i-key ah.. of which his grandma will gladly respond, ok you come now and poh poh give you ice cream. After dinner at home, he always asks for ice cream too :)

2) His favourite outdoor activity is still none other than playing with his shovel/spade, sand & bucket. He loves digging things like all boys.

3) His favourite indoor game is playing tiggy especially with his dad - He would always want his dad to chase him so he can run as fast as he can to the other side of the room. Every time we want to change him or dress him, our cheeky little monkey will deliberately run away and make us chase him!

4) Zach loves to sing - He gets the tune of the song correct each time but of course the lyrics are all gibberish. It's so funny to listen to. His favourite songs that he sings are ABC, Twinkle Twinkle little star & now his most favourite is Happy Birthday. Every time I deliberately sing it in Chinese, he will say in a loud voice 'Happy dada' just to make me sing back in English again. If I don't do it his way, he gets annoyed at me. He also loves his guitar & saxophone toy. He holds it like a rockstar & plays music on it. So funny!

5) Zach has this shy/confident personality about him - every time a stranger comes to our house, he would curl up and act unbelievably shy. He would want us to carry him while he puts his face on our chest & wouldn't even look at the guest in our house. But give him 10mins and he will slowly warm up to you and give you toys, play with you, sing to you etc etc. Before you know it, his voice will rule the house. If we walk away from him to get something out in public (eg. doing our shopping or going to the toilet in the shopping centre), he loves to scream out 'MAHMAH or BAHBAH' in a deafening tone without a care in the world of what other ppl thinks. It's quite embarrassing yet so cute as well b/c everyone stares at him & his parents and smiles too.

6) He loves his soft drinks - I think one of the hardest thing to get right as a parent is setting a good example for your kids. I know both Mr M & I love eating junkfood or drink soft drinks from time to time and when Z sees this, he would also demand to get a taste. We have no choice but to give it to him too since we're also culprits of eating junk. When he drinks fizzy drinks, he does this frowning look on his face b/c of the fizz. It's quite amusing to watch. He also demands us to buy him junkfood every time we go shopping. He's very clever now to pull things off the shelves & put it in the trolley! I wonder where he learnt it from?!

7) Z can say at least 1 word from each letter of the alphabet from A-P. He has also turned slightly Indian. All of his words for some reason always end in 'neh' or 'deh'. For example he would call us 'bahbah deh.. ', 'mah mah neh' . He also loves to say 'um.. um.. ' when he's deciding on something (eg. which book to read or which DVD to watch etc).

8) He still weighs around the 12kg mark & wears size 2. His shoe size is still size 8.

9) We've also discovered a funny change in him. He used to love his nei nei (milk) a lot and would drink it by the litre. But recently after I've started to give him NAN formula (from normal cows milk), he would regurgitate a bit of his milk out after he's drank his 200ml or some times even 150ml. So after about 4rounds of cleaning up the mess on the carpet, we've now been smarter. We put a vomit bowl next to him every time he drinks his milk. Just 2 days ago, he became very clever in communication. As soon as he finished drinking his milk & he feels like he's going to throw up, he would walk up to either Mr M or myself, hands over the milk bottle & then puts the vomit bowl in front of his mouth as if to tell us he's going to vomit soon. As soon as he does this, we hold onto the bowl ready to catch his milk & fair enough, the milk comes out of him in a little sprinkle & then he feels better and goes off to watch TV. It's soooo bizarre! I've given him cows milk too and he still does the same thing! I always wonder why our little goldfish never stops drinking if he knows he's full already?

10) He is learning his own independence now - he wants to put on his own shoes & socks. He wants to also pick the DVDs that he wants to watch. We can not pick it for him otherwise he will cry & wants us to change the DVD to what he wants to watch. He also likes to pick the books that he wants to read without us picking for him.

11) He is pretty clever when it comes to knowing where all of his 'junk food' is kept - if we open the fridge door, straight away he will point to the drawer where his cheese sticks are kept & say 'cheese, cheese, cheese' a gezillion times. If we open the pantry door (which is above his head), he would point to it & say 'Minnie Mouse apple apple apple' a gezillion times as he wants his Mickey Mouse dry freezed apple snack.

12) Talking about Mickey Mouse - His favourite DVD of the month now is no longer Hi-5 or the wiggles but Mickey House Clubhouse. He now notices everything he has that is of Mickey (eg. toys, clothing etc). Whereas in the past, he couldn't care less. I can't wait to take him to Disneyland one day. The look on this face then would be priceless when he meets Mickey in real life :)

13) He loves to do story telling - If he's in a happy mood, he will go on and on and on in his gibberish language as if he's telling us a story. Both Mr M & I pretend we know exactly what he's talking about. When he sees us so engaged, he will continue to blabber even more! He also uses his hands to demonstrate what he's talking about. He also loves to pull you here & there to show you where he wants to take you.

14) Oh & yes for some reason he likes to be a baby - he loves to pull me into his playgym so that both of us lies on it staring onto each of the toys & literally act & cry like a baby. He will only do this if I get in the playgym with me. Too funny!

15) Oh he is like this little puppy dog when it comes to pooing - He will always hide at behind a chair or at the corner in the room just to poo (standing up of course). If he's hiding, you know he's doing a poo. Super cute!

My Baby Shower #2

I ordered these from Gautier Cakes
Thanks Cheryl (Cam & Wong's older sister) who baked these beautiful cupcakes for my lovely baby shower!

I must admit, it's not easy to be the first in your circle of friends to have babies. Why? because you kinda go through the journey yourself alone because after all, they don't fully understand the journey of having a baby until they are in it themselves. It's definitely one of the downsides of going first in your circle of friends. Oh and not having a sister is also a big disadvantage too! I really wished I had a sister to share girly moments with. sniff sniff..

However, despite being the first in my circle of friends (both Singapore & Australia included) to have babies, I must count my blessings for having great colleagues who are older than me and of whom already have kids and can give me so much advice on everything you need to prepare yourself for when you're expecting a little one. Moreover, it has always been my colleagues who offer to throw a baby shower for me without me even asking. Gosh I was blown away!

Usually the tradition is that you only have one baby shower in a lifetime because baby shower is meant to help the parents in preparation for your baby for things like furnitures, clothing, electronic gagets, clothes, toys, bottles, blankets and the list goes on..

Now, I have already been blessed with a very lavished one when I was expecting Zachariah held at the beautiful Ritz Hotel in Singapore and was spoiled rotten by my colleagues.

So when my colleague here in Australia, Kirsten R, said to me she wanted to throw me a baby shower, I was so embarrassed saying 'no.. I've already had one!'. She then proceeded to say, but you've never had one here in Australia which was a fair point. I then told her to wait until I knew the sex of the child. If it was a girl, then I would be more than happy to have another baby shower since I own nothing PINK and boy was I in for a treat...!! I was so thankful to Kirsten cos not only did she organise the baby shower, but she also offered up her place to hold the event AND personally came to my place to pick me up & chauffeur me to her place! It's these kind gestures ppl give you in life that you will never forget to treasure them forever...

Anyway, here are the pics! Talk about the contrast in colours vs when I had Zach!

All the yummy food prepared by everyone who came


Here's my xiao mei mei (little sister) I like to call her who always like to put her ears on my tummy every day at work in an attempt to 'hear' my little girl talk to her..

The host of my baby shower - Kirsten R, far right of the pic, the one on my left


With Grandma Rosey (yes she's a grandma already of 3!), Kirsten C, Amanda & me. Since I will be finishing up work 10 days before I deliver, Rosey & Amanda are convinced that I will be delivering in the office so they've kindly offered to be my midwives. They've also forced me to name my daughter 'Amarose' - Ama from Amanda & Rose for Rosemary :) It's actually a really pretty name!


With Aveena & Jen


Opening presents time!


Oooohhh I so needed this! It's a Pumpkin Patch baby sleeping bag blanket perfect for when BM#2 is out of her swaddling b/c it'll be summer by then! This gift was from Aveena (who became a mum in Jan this year) & she even timed the weather & age of my little girl so it can be used on time. I tell you only mothers will think of these things!! So very thoughtful!


Donna Hay cookbook! Omg I was laughing my head off when I saw this gift from Jen cos earlier this week I had gone to her place for dinner & she cooked up such a delicious meal. She told me her secret recipe was Donna Hay magazines! So I told her I am going to get some cos I really have to master the art of cooking since I'm going to be a mum of 2 soon! And boy was it a nice surprise when she bought me the best collection of Donna Hay magazine cookbook! Just what I wanted & I didn't even expect it at all!! :)


The next 3 gifts were all from my boss Kirsten C (who was also make up artist from my previous post). She was the only person that asked me what I wanted so I told her something that I can swaddle my baby girl in. So she got me blankets & muslin pink wraps!! I later found out by accident that all 3 gifts costed AU$100! I couldn't believe how much she spent on me! So pai seh man..


My xiao mei mei bought BM#2 the funkiest fur jacket. She is always pressuring me to doll my baby up even though I haven't had her yet. When we go together for store checks, we would always take time out for a detour to the kids shop and she would always force me to buy these cute outfits for BM#2. The other day, she managed to convince me to buy a little ballerina outfit that was so impractical to dress. But all in the name of vanity of course...lol.


Here are all of my lovely colleagues from left to right:
Aveena, Lainie, Amanda, Rosey, Kirsten C, Leeora, Jen & Kirsten R who totally made me feel so special!



And here are all of my gifts to date!! I have at least 9 pink congratulations cards & BM#2 is not even born yet! lol!


BM#2 is going to be one fashionista! She received both Country Road & Esprit Clothing and these cute Mary Jane socks which I've been eyeing on since I saw them on my g/f's bub!


Oh & Zachariah just loved the baby sign so much that he kept on holding it everywhere he went around the house saying 'baby baby baby'. It was so funny!


Ahh.. not long to go before I can use all these!! Thank you P&G Chickies!!
xo

Family.

As one generation loves, another generation learns...

My Colleague recently fwd me a link to one of the award winning television commercial currently airing in Singapore communicating the importance of family.

Now maybe it's my hormones running wild, but after watching it, tears just started to flow down controllably. Two days later, I showed it to Mr M & watched it with him for the 2nd time & this time around, I cried even more!

So I would like to share with you all this beautifully made commercial. Apparently the director is a Malaysian woman! Ah no wonder so clever ;)

Warning: Grab a tissue before you play it!!! Click here.

A Girly Afternoon & Night!

My boss Kir (Kirsten) has always loved make up. Finally she decided to enroll herself into an intensive 8wks course with the Academy of Napolean Perdis to get her certificate at the end of it so she can practice what she loves doing in her spare time as a side hobby and of course to earn extra pocket money. She needed an Asian model & of course I, who rarely gets the opportunity of getting made up, happily volunteered to be her model for 3 hours.

I must admit, my butt, neck & back was getting sore after sitting for 3hours. It doesn't help being 34wks pregnant either! Nonetheless, the price you pay for vanity was absolutely worth it!

There were great tips I learned from the class today:
1) Every girl needs a Primer - which is basically like a white lotion that you apply first & foremost on your skin so that it smooths your face before you apply your make up (to prevent the foundation from being creasy/cakey)

2) Invest in a good blender brush - Napolean brush 16B apparently is a good buy and works wonders in blending the eye shadow to give it the 3 different shades look.

3) Always put foundation before applying eye shadow as it makes the eye shadow stick onto your skin so it lasts longer & doesn't smouch.

4) Asian skin is usually a Golden Sand colour of foundation vs a beige colour - For Asians which happens very commonly tend to pick the wrong shade of foundation (eg. if you take a photo of yourself with your foundation & look terribly white in the photo, then you know you've used the wrong shade of foundation. You've probably picked a beige colour vs a golden sand colour).

5) Concealer is a must around the eyes to smooth out the lines & to ensure your eye liner/eye shadow stays longer

6) On a side note, I never knew Napolean Perdis (who is an Australian Greek man) is straight! He sure sounds very gay when he speaks but he actually has a beautiful wife with 4 beautiful daughters (3 of whom are triplets!)

Here's my first look called the Yasmine Eye - which is basically applying only one colour and playing with the blending. Her instructor was super pleased by Kir's techniques & gave her a really good assessment. I thought it really made my eyes stand out alright but was totally honest to her that I would definitely not go out in public wearing ORANGE eye shadow :)

Next was what I was looking forward to the most - Smokey eyes!! OMG did I look hot or what? I absolutely loved it & begged Kir to be my make up artist every single day! :)

Doesn't it just define the eyes so beautifully?


Here's me with my make up artist (who happens to also be my boss too :)

Kir asked me afterwards what Mr M would think of it. I told her the truth.. um.. I think he's going to be a bit shocked & thrown back. I told her too that I was actually looking forward to seeing what my little man would think. I kinda had the feeling that he might need a few seconds to digest before finally realising that I am his mother when I greet him at home. And fair enough, as soon as I got home and had shut the front door, I could hear my little one upstairs running to the gate screaming out 'mama mama'. I ran upstairs to see a very happy boy & said to him 'Hello baby!'. I then flicked on the lights and you see him looking so stunned. He looked at me strangely for 5 secs & then pointed to his eyes while blinking his eyes as if he was in pain talking in his baby gibberish language. I'm certained he must've said something like 'what happened to your eyes mama? did someone give you a black eye (x2)? Are you in pain?'. It was the most cutest sight. My hubby on the other hand, when I walked up to him and asked him how did I look? He too had this strange look on his face & finally said 'it's a bit... dark'. He didn't like it at all cos I knew he wouldn't approve of the 'intense' look whereas every girl I know thought it was HOT! It's funny how guys & girls have two completely different taste!

Anyway, so that night I organised a girls night out with my high school friends. We went to Ying Thai at the corner of Hoddle St & Victoria Rd. The food was good but the company was even better.

After dinner, we then proceeded to Cafe Notturno on Lygon St to have our dessert & literally chatted the night away. I had told Mr M that I would be back by 10pm. But by the time I even thought to look at my watch atthe restaurant, it was already 11pm! We finally got home at around 11:30pm even though the night started at 6pm! oopsies!!

We had so much fun didn't we girls?! Can't wait to do it all over again in 3wks time (just pray that I don't pop by then).

Maha Bar & Grill

Thank God the financial year is over! you have no idea how tough May & June was for everyone on our team. In our side of the office, probably everyone would work until at least 7:30pm every single day in May & June. Some mornings, I would be in office by 7am too doing more than 12hours days! It was crazy! So this was why I was sooooo happy to wlcome July's arrival!

Since our team performed so well last financial year (Wesfarmers team is the top 3 highest growth customer teams within not only Australia, but entire Asia Pacific region!), Our head boss Vivek decided to take us all to a very fancy, fine dining 1 hat restaurant on Bond St, Melbourne CBD. It is middle Eastern cuisine & is the sister restaurant of the very famous Press Club. This restaurant is none other than Maha Bar & Grill.

We were so impressed by the food as I usually don't like Middle Eastern. Everything had so much taste & texture. I felt like I was on Masterchef critiquing every single dish! More importantly, the service & ambience was just faultless!

Their signature drink - Lebanese Iced Tea.

My first ever drink with Pine nuts in it! The taste was absolutely refreshing except that I didn't quite like the fact that there were pine nuts floating on top of it (even though it's my favourite nuts of all).


Entree 1: Turkish bread & dips


Buttered beans (interesting way of cutting them to look like pastas!) & these spring roll looking lamb battered rolls

Mains: The most delicious moroccan spiced Chicken, Grilled King Fish with Orange (it was the best fish I've ever tasted!), walnut & pomegranate salad

Dessert: Turkish Delight filled donut, milk ice cream with Beetroot & Chocolate Sponge Cake (this dessert was the best) and orange honeycomb & orange blossom cream, white chocolate and vanilla cream, rose water jelly (which I didn't like cos it had aniseed in it! yuck!)

The lunch went for 4hours! Afterwards, we then went to their courtyard to chat some more but more importantly to drink shots (of course I just had water!). Then nearly 85% of the team took up the tradional smoke pipe tobacco with flavoured rasberry/strawberry. Gosh it was such a funny sight as it looked like we were on a this team building exercise of getting 'high'. Kir (my boss (on the right) and I left after half hour cos of the smoke filled room.

Overall, I give this restaurant an 8 out o 10 for its fantastic service/ambience. More importantly each dishes had interesting combinations of ingredients which complemented each other in every way.

Oh & yes I'm so going to miss my team!!