Ideas

Will a good primary school make a difference?

31/12/2016 by Dr Donna Chow Leave a Comment

A recent conversation with a fellow parent triggered some thought provoking questions to my mind. We were sharing some tips on primary school admission - her child was 3 years old and mine was a few months short of 2 years. Both of us agreed that a good primary school would have a significant impact on the child's future and not all schools are made equal - despite what the higher authorities would like us to think. How would you explain that there are primary schools with a lower aggregate cut-off for their affiliated secondary schools? And why are some children given priority to go to their Click to read more

DIY baby gate with fabric paint

28/12/2016 by Dr Donna Chow Leave a Comment

It has been a while since I spend time doing what I love to do the most - crafting! The idea of sewing a fabric baby gate came to my mind quite some time ago because I couldn't find a solution to block the staircase without installing a semi-permanent structure that will block part of the walkway. This project will work for you if both sides of the walls have something to hook onto. And the best part is you can remove it any time you don't need it. I bought a set of fabric paint from Artfriend. There are two types of such paint - one for light coloured fabric and one for dark coloured Click to read more

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

Freeze the flab on your tummy?

20/09/2016 by Dr Donna Chow Leave a Comment

Fitting into pre-pregnancy jeans is every mother's secret desire

Fat freezing (or cryolipolysis) has been around for many years. It originates from an interesting observation that kids develop dimples when they eat too much ice popsicles - the low temperature freezes away the subcutaneous fats underneath the skin. So these clever guys at Harvard developed a machine to freeze the fat cells in our unwanted areas, with minimal damage and trauma to the overlying skin. Coolsculpting (name of the machine for fat freezing) was born. Cryolipolysis is a medical jargon. Cryo- stands for freezing; lipo stands for fat and lysis means to break down. Does it work? - I Click to read more

Household items you should store away from fresh domestic helpers

04/09/2016 by Dr Donna Chow Leave a Comment

A hot iron can do wonders, it can also do much damage

The house is a place with many items, if not used correctly, may cause much damage. With young children and domestic helpers around, they may get hold of these items and destroy your stuff unintentionally or pose a hazard to you and others. It is commonly understood that you should keep washing detergent, sharp tools and the medicine cabinet out of reach of young children. So what are some common household items you should store away from domestic helpers - especially fresh ones with no working experience? I have round up a few on my list which you may like to keep away from the prying hands Click to read more

A dreadful mistake

23/08/2016 by Dr Donna Chow Leave a Comment

A few nights ago, I made a dreadful mistake. I was capturing a photo for my carousell ad and after uploaded the photo, I decided to delete it to "save space" on my handphone. Little did I know that when I click the button "delete", I deleted the entire camera album. It all happened in a matter of seconds and before I knew it, it was gone. All gone! I turned frantic. How could I have make such a silly mistake? I had daily backups with Google photos - but there was a cap on 10-15 Gb, I didn't backup in full resolution. I recalled a program called Recuva on my desktop - this works very well to Click to read more

Hand carry expressed breast milk on Singapore Airlines

17/08/2016 by Dr Donna Chow 8 Comments

Recently I returned from a work trip to Bangkok. Initially, I was quite reluctant to travel alone because I was still pumping breast milk religiously three times a day. I was afraid of leaving my comfort zone and having to deal with a strange environment. Though it was a short 3 day training workshop cum conference, I was worried whether I have the time to continue expressing my breast milk at the hotel and bringing my breast milk home. Different immigration customs and airlines have different policies on carrying liquids on flight. I assume breast milk is no exception. It would be a Click to read more

How to clean rainbow stains on steel pots

05/08/2016 by Dr Donna Chow Leave a Comment

It is a misnomer that stainless steel should be called "stainless". Anyone who has used stainless steel pots and pans would know that after repeated use, you will get rainbow stains on the bottom. These cloudy discoloration can be a result of a combination of high heat from your stove and food residue being stuck to the steel. Here is a kitchen knack which I have discovered online and it works pretty well for me. I use this WMF stainless steel wok for daily stir fry and it is one of my favourite. It has several stains on the bottom and it looks really horrible. No amount of scrubbing Click to read more

Dr Donna Chow

Mummy. Doctor. Blogger