Family

Happy without a maid

08/10/2016 by Dr Donna Chow 6 Comments

Not too long ago, I wrote a post on surviving 25 days without a domestic helper. Little would I have known that barely 2 months after the arrival of my third domestic helper, I would be without a maid again. Perhaps I have exceedingly high expectations of the roles and duties of a domestic helper. I am not able to tolerate helpers who do not have basic common sense, have attitude issues and talked back at their employer. Unfortunately, my third helper has all of these attributes. The final straw came when I discovered her using a rusty brush to scrub the toilet bowls - not one of them, Click to read more

The Terrible Two

30/09/2016 by Dr Donna Chow Leave a Comment

Recently, Ah Boy, as what we have affectionately called him, has been showing signs of The Terrible Two. He is no longer the baby who give us no trouble and sits quietly to play his "car car" in the baby cot. One fine night, he attempted a circus stunt and fell head long onto the floor because he refused to be confined within the walls of his Ikea baby cot. He used his toes as an anchor on the vertical bars and hoist his little body upwards (see photo below). Serious design flaw - Ikea! At 17 months, he has become a destructive walking monster. After he is done playing with his Click to read more

Staycation at Sentosa

07/07/2016 by Dr Donna Chow Leave a Comment

And took some photos with the Sesame Street characters

Last month, we had a weekend staycation at Sentosa to celebrate my birthday. It was a good time to refresh, rejuvenate and to recharge ourselves, and to visit the places which we wanted to see; The Underwater World (which will cease operations on 26 Jun 2016), Trick Eye museum and Universal Studios at Resort World Sentosa. Our staycation began with a long queue at the reception at Hotel Equarius. It was a complimentary stay, which I redeemed for my birthday. The check in hour was 3 pm, and we arrived on time, but only to find out that the room was not ready until 3.30 pm. It was a short wait Click to read more

Bringing baby to Club Med Bintan

17/06/2016 by Dr Donna Chow 10 Comments

In my earlier post on Bringing Baby to Perth, I mentioned about baby's first trip to Club Med Bintan. We travelled there for a short holiday in February for Valentine's day weekend. The short getaway is just what we need - a family trip to enjoy bonding with baby, eat great food and relax by the sea. Just in case if you haven't been to Club Med, it stands for Club Méditerranée and it's a French company which runs self contained resort in various exotic destinations around the world. You pay a fixed price per person and enjoy unlimited meals and drinks at the club. There are also Click to read more

Surviving 25 maid free days

13/06/2016 by Dr Donna Chow Leave a Comment

Recently, I sent my Indonesian helper back to her home country. So we are left with all the household chores to ourselves for 25 days until the next one arrives. The fear of not being able to cope with everything is very real - especially when we have a lived-in domestic helper for the past 1 year since the arrival of our baby. Read this recent ST Article on Indonesia plans to stop sending live in maids abroad. Hubby asked, "Why not hire a part time cleaner to do the work for the next 3 weeks?" Yes, this consideration did occur to me but there were a few issues for this option. One of the Click to read more

Bringing baby to Perth

05/06/2016 by Dr Donna Chow 2 Comments

Perth is a very popular holiday destination for Singaporeans. We decided to bring baby to Perth for his first holiday by plane. His previous holiday was to Clubmed Bintan by sea and he loves it so much. Click to read the post here. Australia is an ideal destination for young families because it is easy to move around in rented cars and it is fairly near to Singapore; just a 5 hour plane ride away. Most tourist attractions closes at 4 pm or 4.30 pm; so that leaves you with more than half a day to chill and relax in the comfort of your apartment. Here is our short itinerary: Day 1 - Click to read more

DIY planning for my one year old birthday party

11/05/2016 by Dr Donna Chow 2 Comments

One year old parties happen to be a major event for most mummies. It is a milestone that calls for a celebration - be it big or small. Party planning is big business in the industry. Some planners charges from a few hundreds to a few thousands for the event, depending on how elaborate you want it to be. Initially I was very tempted to hire a party planner. But the perfectionist monster got the better out of me. I don't want to risk paying a hefty price tag and end up feeling disappointed if what they did is not what I desire. How difficult can it get doing your own party, right? Do Click to read more

Dr Donna Chow

Mummy. Doctor. Blogger