Mamo, the Ah Ma a.k.a Confinement Lady (and Her Cooking)

You may or may not know, Mamo was my confinement lady after delivering baby Rayden. 

The reasons I made Mamo my confinement lady were 1) we are not use to having a stranger (confinement lady) in our house, 2) I prefer Mamo's cooking and if I doesn't like it I can tell her or if I prefer certain type of food I can tell her too. But asking her to stay in KL, worst, to be confined at home for a month is kinda tough because of the fact that in Taiping she goes out every single day and enjoys her freedom hanging out with friends and running errands on a daily basis. 

You know they are in love with each other... LOL!

But she came anyway. No Astro to follow her Hokkien shows, no morning walk in lake garden (only morning walk downstairs at my condo), no driving out, no husband (Papo was here for a few days only), no friends (well she made friends here and you can't beat that), no normal I-wanna-nap-I-nap time and she cooks everyday for me, which she doesn't even do at home!

She was only a part-time confinement lady though, meaning by night baby is with Deardo and I so unlike many of you who have the privilege of a confinement lady taking care of your baby at midnight and you could have your sweet sleep, we took care of Rayden ourselves. No regret though, Deardo and I pretty much enjoyed the bonding we have built with him and Deardo is all proud about it that as a father, he has done so much during baby's first month itself. I couldn't agree more, really. Compared to many dads out there who probably take his wife's confinement month as opportunity to leave everything at home to the confinement lady and spend more time outside rather than with his newborn, my husband is in fact, 'a class above'. Ah hemm... *thick skin~*

At Rayden's Full Moon Luncheon! Ah Ma feeling heavy already to leave the little boy...

Anyway, this post isn't about Deardo lah, it's about Mamo and her grandmother-hood. I don't think Mamo regret it either. Grandmother-hood has totally changed her. In stead of being paiseh and refuses to express her true feelings, she shows how much she enjoys playing with Rayden, and told us she will miss him before she left for Taiping after that one month. She was back to KL again after just two weeks time and that's 'whoa' to a lot of people cos if it's the Mamo we know, to ask her to visit us in KL means you better just kill her. LOL.

And zooop... She is back after two weeks! Look at how much the boy has grown!

So that's the story of the Ah Ma and her grandson. As for the mother and her daughter, I am truly thankful of her taking care of me for one whole month, although she isn't a professional confinement lady and at times I had to do a lot of stuff myself. I still however, enjoy her company and am very happy the experience changes her. 

I told ya Mamo is addicted to Rayden! :p

It changes me as well. Last time I never thought much about my parent whenever you talk about migrating or working overseas cos I know at times they also hope for the best for me and that if I can earn more overseas they will be quite happy too. But now with Rayden around, I want to make sure we are in Malaysia so Ah Gong and Ah Ma (even Ye Ye and Ma Ma) can spend some time with him because the truth is they aren't getting any younger and the odds are they might not have too many years left with their grandson. Gosh talking about this always make me emo...

On a happier note, let me share with you just some of the awesome cooking Mamo has done for me during my confinement month! Only sharing those that are more interesting of course. 

The rice and dishes...

Cuz my mum can make awesome Pig Stomach Pepper Soup!

And she makes very awesome black pepper pork chops topped with fried ginger too! 

Oh, MIL contributed the turmeric base for this turmeric chicken! Very nice!!!

Mamo also makes awesome pork kidneys that is my favourite! Of course, she learned how to make the Black Vinegar Trotter from MIL and aced it I guess! Haha, I'm not a big fan of that dish la... :p Love the Papaya and Peanuts Soup too!

Highlight here is the spinach in red wine, egg and ginger. Love it!

This one with yellow wine and Goji berry!

My favourite turmeric chicken again and a small portion of Spring Onion Ginger Sliced Pork too!

My Special request - Steamed Egg with Minced Pork and Sesame Oil Chicken! Yumzzz...

I believe this was when Papo and my two sisters were around for dinner too where Mamo steamed some awesome chicken and make butter chicken rice to go with. Also in my confinement menu was the Lemongrass and Baby Onion Soup which I've fall in love with!

The noodle soup...

Mee Suah in Red Wine Soup with additional pork kidney topped with a fried egg! 

On lazy days, I'm ok with just Mee Suah in any soup of the day.

Like Pat Chan soup also we put Mee Suah and vegetables in it to make a meal!

And my Pat Chan has pig stomach in it, you can't beat that, can't you? Kekekeke,,,

Another Red Wine Soup Mee Suah, this time with a hard boiled egg!

The fried noodles, fried rice or one-pot-done dish...

The story here was that I bought the Hor Fun to make Cantonese Fried Hor Fun (Wat Dan Hor) without knowing I was going to pop! So I asked Mamo to use the Hor Fun and she made this pretty delicious Sesame Oil Fried Hor Fun with Pork Kidney!

Wanted something different so told Mamo to fried rice with Red Wine with some Edamame (rumour has it that they are milk booster) too!  

Fried Spaghetti with Sesame Oil, Minced Pork, Egg, Black Fungus and Edamame, another creative twist I asked Mamo to do and she simply aced it! Doesn't look like any other boring confinement month food isn't it? *wink~*

Simple fried bihun here but of course done with a lot of ingredients that are confinement-month friendly.

And when Red Wine Soup and Red Wine Fried Rice are too mainstream, here comes Red Wine Pasta yo~!

Or or... Red Wine One-Pot Chicken, Chinese Sausage, Shiitake Mushrooms and Black Fungus Rice.

Another awesome-looking red wine fried rice with whole loads of stuff.

So, how's that for some inspirations to you mothers out there who are going to be confinement ladies to your daughters? :p

Awesome Ramen @ Kamikaze Ramen, 1 Mont Kiara

After I was officially done with my confinement month, one of the first foods I wanted to eat was some nice Ramen, and I mean those real ones with thick broth, not those with soya sauce soup base okay!

But to beat the weekend jam and the fuss of looking for car park space, we decided to head to 1 Mont Kiara (which is by the way, not easy to find parking anymore) to try Menya Kamikaze.

A glance at the very simple looking restaurant, you'll find the cashier, the tattooed staff at the kitchen and majority of the tables are Japanese. Those are definitely good sign that the Ramen must authentic and 'Japanese-approved'. And that L-shape sitting area around the kitchen pretty much reminds me of how the Japanese would typically eat their Ramen in Japan!

Deep Fried Prawns, RM 6.

Gyoza, RM10 (6 pcs).

Before the Ramen came, we had some appetizers. Big love for the deep fried baby prawns, tasted very light but has a very crispy texture. Not a big fan of the oily deep fried gyoza (still prefer pan-fried) but the pork fillings inside were very juicy and yummy! Both very satisfying and affordable too, I must say.

Original Pork Soup Chasu Ramen, RM26.

Black Garlic Spicy Pork Soup Chasu Ramen, RM27.

Deardo and FIL had the original pork soup Chasu Ramen which has Steamed Pork Belly, Steamed Pork Shoulder, an egg and spring onion. The thick pork broth is of top class, while the thin ramen are very springy and has a nice chewy texture, almost like an al dente pasta. The pork are are all very well done too - tender and flavourful. Being the adventurous one, I tried the Black Garlic Spicy Pork Soup Chasu Ramen, which has the same ingredients, only the difference in terms of flavour. The flavour is a little heavier, very thick with just a hint of spiciness, very nice! Not to mention the portion is also quite huge!

The father-and-son.

And the other son who was only sleeping soundly for a few minutes. ==|||

And the mummy enjoying her time-out and the bowl of awesome ramen!

Together with three cups of tea, GST and service charge, we paid RM118.95, which I reckon still considered quite reasonable compared to some other well-known Menyas in town.
Overall, while I don't think the appertizers are too fantastic, the Ramen are definitely above average. Definitely going back again, perhaps to try their famous spicy ramen!

Menya Kamikaze
Lot 1-2, First Floor,
1 Mont Kiara,
1, Jalan Kiara,
Mont Kiara,
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-6211 9499

Things They Didn't Tell You about after Giving Birth to a Baby

Hello you guys! Long time no see! 

Hello too, from a happy Rayden! :D

Judging from the period of time I've been absent from this blog, it's quite obvious that Baby Rayden has been keeping me very busy, especially these few weeks after my confinement month where I was left alone at home with the baby. I wasn't even someone who like crying babies so please imagine how depressing and discouraging it is trying to calm a crying baby down. Plus, him crying means you have to let go everything you have on hands, your housework, your work and even your meals. Yeap, it takes me at least 2 hours to finish my lunch nowadays. FML. Ah not to forget, I think it takes about a week to finally post this entry up! :S

Having lunch while carrying Rayden cos he ain't gonna keep quiet if you let him lying on anywhere alone.

At Rayden's mini full moon luncheon and him looking like oh, not another photo~! 

These days of me staying at home with a baby has made me a very pro-SAHM person. So don't you ever tell me SAHM is an easy job compared to your 9-5 office job, I'll argue with you kaw kaw! 

So when Rayden is sleeping, I blog while watching drama! 

Anyway, today I would like to warn talk about things that a mother has to go through after delivering a baby, which some of you mums-to-be may not know...

1) Nope, you can have your usual coffee (or alcohol) fix, just yet
Apart from Sashimi, coffee is another thing I really want to have in my daily life again after delivering the baby, until I saw this...

What do you mean by 'although it would be good to avoid totally'? Sounds totally like blackmailing me man! I've heard of many stories about the links between coffee and breastfeeding like your milk production will be cut into half or that your baby who drinks your caffeinated milk would end up not sleeping.

Quite normal to see this little fellar awake at 4ish in the morning like this during the first month...

Sleeping soundly here with papa, the baby whisperer.

Until the other day I went to see my doctor for a post-natal check-up she told me I can pretty much eat normally now I went like OH SCREW IT and I certainly didn't turn back since then. Of course, I don't have coffee on a daily basis now, just whenever I feel like and trust me, milk production hasn't been any lesser and I don't think it's the reason if Rayden doesn't sleep.

2) Nope, you can't wear your sexy and seducing bras, just yet
Fine, I've expected that it would take some time to be able to fit into my pretty dresses again, but honestly, I didn't expect my boobs to grow bigger than when they were during pregnancy. So it's absolutely impossible to fit into my old bras (and old dresses too) and I kinda have a feeling they will shrink even slower than my tummy. :S Only bonus here is, nursing bras, although looking quite aunty-ish, are very comfy.

Saggy boobies are the highlight of this family portrait.

3) Breastfeeding isn't easy at all
Fine, I admit I was damn lazy to do research about BF before this. All I know is BF is good for both baby and mother so I bravely went on with the plan to BF. And then it struck me, the first day we returned home. It was so hard to get Rayden to latch on me and my milk supply was almost zero. Deardo was the first to jump in and questioned me why aren't there milk when I have such big boobies and why his sister who is smaller size has milk and I don't? Stupid men, I tell you, they don't process their words before the blurt them out. It was so hurtful it made me cry like crazy but that's okay, he apologized after that and milk supply came pretty much right after that first day.

Devastating begining to my breastfeeding journey...

My milk giving Rayden a good milk coma...

And being a breastfeeding mum, you face sore boobs, saggy and ugly boobs, leaking problems, and you have to pump quite on time. So even when baby doesn't wake up in the middle of the night, your almost-exploding boobs will force you to wake up to pump. I always say I look like a zombie cow pumping milk at night...

Leaking is a first world problem, aye?

So all these experiences taught me one important thing - never judge. Never judge mums who have decided to just feed their kids formula milk cos hey, BF isn't easy and not everyone has the patience and time for it. Nobody can judge you, not even your husband. BF only if you feel like or you want to. Also, every woman's body is different, so don't ever compare yourself with others. Just do what you think is right for you. *wink~*

4) Traditional CINA confinement could kill you (or your will to give birth again)
Now, not that I didn't expect this, just that I found it much tougher than expectations. Let me break this down into few categories:

Proud Ah Gong and Ah Ma! :)

The loneliness
Yes, it was a very lonely journey because you are not allowed to sit where normal people sit (because there's probably a fan nearby) and most of the time you eat alone.
Because the food comprises of nothing but sesame oil, ginger, wine and more ginger - nobody would want to share that with you. So Mamo who cooked for me during my confinement month did join me sometimes but most of other times I had to eat alone because Deardo would go have his fun eating out or with his family. I was shedding tears at the dining table alone, imagining myself being a bullied kid in high school sitting alone at one corner at the canteen, just like in those American TV shows. BLOODY DEPRESSING...

Thank god for all the friends and family, and a Kai Ma who came to visit and made me feel better! :)

Plus, everyone else can go out except for you. You are literally CONFINED.

The no-shower rule
If Deardo and MIL aren't those very traditional Cina, I won't have this kinda problem. I mean, I'm not judging you who follow all these rules cos I did hear people who really have body problems because they didn't follow the rules. But scientifically and logically thinking, this rule isn't logic at all.
Someone told me before that this rule applies because in China they have cold seasons so it's understandable if you want them to not shower, but this is freaking Malaysia there is no way you can skip shower for so long and I'll be the first one to second that theory!

Baby Rayden sure enjoy his bath while the mummy isn't allow to do so! Hmmm...

Wefie with mummy?

Not being able to shower regularly gives you bad odor, dandruff and hell lot of bacteria and you tell me how is that good for your baby when you are constantly carrying or even breastfeeding him/her? I really couldn't help but wonder if Baby Rayden got his rashes on his face earlier on from me because I wasn't clean at all.

The heaty food
To add salt to the no-shower rule, your food are also purposely made to be super heaty. I mean, I got Mamo to come take care of me because I prefer her cooking, and that I can order her to be creative with the food, but still we can't run away from those heaty ingredients, especially GINGER, GINGER and GINGER.

Mamo's cooking was awesome! More about that later yo! 

It's already painful enough that I hate ginger in the first place, and to have those meals under a no-fan situation is like asking you to eat some super spicy food in a sauna room. By the end of your meals, you aren't even sure those in your mouth are sweat of soup...

I'm trying to be neutral here but at times I don't agree with all these CINA rules because hey, who doesn't have body pain when you grow old? How sure are you that those pain are because you didn't follow the confinement rules? Ah, when I told Deardo about this he would say so go ahead and don't complain to me when you really have body ache later on! Again, it's black-mailing. Everything after you give birth just sound like whole loads of black-mails. ==|||

5) The pain doesn't just end there
So you think pregnancy gives you loads of pains - backache, swollen legs, nausea, etc until you went through labour which was oh-so-painful you feel like it's the pain-est thing in the entire world. Fine, I agree that kinda pain is something really extraordinary but if you think the pain ends there then you are so so wrong.

Nope, he definitely didn't get those long fingers from me.

Apart from the confinement month pain (probably the worst one), you have stitches down there or on the tummy (if you went through c-sec), sore boobs, plus all kinda other pain like becoming domesticated (going out become such a pain), taking care of your kid especially at night and oh yeah, not to forget the many more years of taking care of your kid, making sure that he is always safe and healthy. Phew~ That responsibility!

Strolling around with mummy! 

And studying the menu with papa!

Feeding in the mall LIKE A BOSS!

6) Acronyms now has different meanings
I find this very funny cos my ex-colleagues Maddy, Lea and I are in this Whatsapps group where Maddy and I who are now mummies always share about our mummy and babies stuff and Lea reminded us about this this acronyms thingy.
BF doesn't mean boyfriend anymore, it's breastfeeding. DL isn't download, but direct latch. So yes, when you become a mother maybe your social conversation will become really weird.

Kai Ma Karen's cupcakes became props for some cute photos! Rayden has creative parent I must say. Blek! 

Well, of course all these unfortunate and painful experiences kinda paid off whenever you see your baby smiling or responding to you and soon they will achieve all kinda stuff to make things well worth it. I guess to me, my hope for Rayden is simple - for him to grow healthily, happily and achieve whatever he is able in his life. :)

The story here is funny - the moment Rayden's moth started to narrow down like he was going to cry, 3e and Eu Jin started to laugh and that sort of gave him a shock and he stopped crying and just starred at them. LOL!

Okay, now's time to spam you with some photos of my cute little fellar, who has definitely grown pretty 'well' over the past two months! :p

Less than a month here...

In a very good mood yo!

The artsy don't-look-at-the-camera photo.

Oh hi!

Muaks~!!!

I'm upside down cos that makes me sexay???

Refused to sleep at night again...

You can't go wrong with a yawning baby pic, they are cutest!

My thumb is finger-licking good yo! 

Am I? Am I cute and cuddly? 

Love it when he is so happy and excited!

Yay! :D

Will find time to blog again soon!