Swim School

Aidan's first day at swim school. Got to the Aquatic Centre a few minutes late. No big deal. Then my wife tells me that the class lasts for only 20 minutes. What?! Mad dash to the kiddie pool without even taking a shower. I hope the others will understand.

Today's lesson involves the instructor taking the baby and gently swaying him in the water left and right. Then she pushes the baby towards the parent. After a few rounds, a rubber mat was brought out. The babies were left sitting on the mat. We turn the mat round and round (while singing Ring-a-Round a Rosie). At one point, we lift our babies and let them splash into the water. Then back on the mat for more. None of the babies liked it, as most were bawling at the end of class. They're probably confused as to what going on.

Weird Weekends with Louis Theroux

Spent most of my free time watching Season One of Louis Theroux' Weird Weekends. In this offbeat documentary series, Louis takes us into some strange and unfamiliar subcultures. He doesn't just interview the UFO fanatics and porn stars and off-Broadway wannabes and black nationalists and white supremacists, he goes deeper than that. He stars in an infomercial; he joins a rap competition; he goes under hypnosis; he interviews some potential Thai brides; he joins a demolition derby.

After the break, we'll have Season Two.

Home Buyer & Property Investor Show

Been a while since we came down to the city. With free tickets to the Home Buyer & Property Investor Show, we took the opportunity to visit Darling Harbour.

The expo is pretty much the same as last year. Most of the booths are hawking investment properties never-heard-of suburbs. Some even offer rental guarantees.Heck, for the price of one apartment in Sydney, you can buy five rental properties in the US with a return of 15% or more.

The deals are so good, I'm surprised I haven't signed any contracts yet.

Just next door is the Trading and Investing Expo. Even less interesting for someone who's too busy to trade shares and play with foreign currencies anymore.

Ten-Year Anniversary

My manager sauntered down the corridor, went in my cubicle, and casually handed me a plaque celebrating my 10 years of service with the company. I also get a MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) perpetual calendar designed by Gideon Dagan and made in China. It's a perpetual calendar because you have to mark the day and month yourself, every single day of the year. That'll remind me how time flies.

Cheap PS2 Hardware

To think that I spent weeks looking for an affordable EyeToy USB camera on eBay. If you know how, you could've gotten one *including* the EyeToy Play 2 disc for only $7.

I went to EBGames and bought Play 2 for $7. The guy asked me if I have the camera. Thinking this is another cross-sell, and I do already have an EyeToy, I said yes. Went back home only to find out that I already have Play 2. What I'm after is the original Play. Went back to EBGames the next day to return it. A different guy asked me if I have the camera for the game. Again, I said yes, I have my own camera. Oh, the games come with the camera, the guy mentioned. Hmm, is that so? Anyway, I found Play for $4, and asked for the camera. This time, the camera is not included. Bummer.

So I went back to the bargain bin, and looked around for Buzz! titles. If you read the item codes carefully, it actually tells you if hardware is included. For my efforts, I got a Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz game disc plus FOUR Buzz controllers for only $18. Not too shabby.

The Hillsong Experience

First time to attend a Hillsong Church service. Church is a bit misleading because the place is more like a convention centre. We were there for a dedication service for a friend's twins. We asked around and were told that we must be mistaken because there's no dedication scheduled for today. Apparently, there was some kind of miscommunication. We later located the harassed mom, who's trying to make things happen. Good thing the Hillsong guys agreed to add in a short dedication to their regular service.

We walked in the auditorium and was amazed by its size and the number of people attending the service. What's even more surprising is the availability of a parents' room complete with changing table, microwave oven, curtained booths for breastfeeding, and a flatscreen TV showing a live feed of the service. We stayed in the parents' room the whole time as baby needs a feed, then sleep. Also, I don't think he can handle the loud volume inside the auditorium.

Reverse Cycle Portable Air Condition on Mobile eBay

With summer coming fast, I'm onto eBay to look for a portable air conditioner. A no-frills portable airconditioner will set you back at least $150. If you opt for the reverse-cycle one, that's usually around $250 or more.

So I find a portable a/c for sale. A closer look at the description says it's a Dimplex DAC-12004RC, which tells me it's actually reverse-cycle. No wonder there's relatively little interest from the bidding public. The item location being in Horseley also helps.

minutes to go before the auction ends, we're still in Westfield. I took out my E75 and went to the mobile eBay site. No HSDPA, only 3G. Started putting in higher and higher bids until I got the winning bid. To prevent a last-minute upset, I upped my max bid some more. Must've put in the wrong number because I ended up bidding $13,500. With only a few seconds to go, it's panic time! It's a good thing 3G is quite slow, so I was able to stop the transaction. Ended up winning the RC portable aircon at $113. Add in a $5 Paypal voucher for not using my 99c free listings last weekend, and I'm a happy camper.

Calming Your Baby

Would've good if I found out about this earlier. After days of having the baby crying on and off, and not knowing how to pacify him, we turned to Google/Wikipedia/YouTube, and found out about the 5S's.

If your baby is always unsettled or crying after a feed, he probably has colic. Now, noboby knows what's the cause of colic, but most people think it's due to stomach gases. Regardless, Dr. Harvey Karp, author of the best-selling The Happiest Baby on the Block, tells us that all babies have a calming reflex. If we know how to trigger this calming reflex, it'll calm the baby immediately. And so I give you the 5S's:

• swaddling - Swaddle the baby tightly to recreate the sensation of being in the womb.
• side or stomach postion - Hold the baby on his side or face down.
• shushing - Constant shush sound or other sources of white noise, like hair dryers or vacuum cleaners
• swinging - A little bit of jiggling of the baby from side to side
• sucking - Breastfeeding or the use of pacifiers

As soon as I learned these techniques, I applied them immediately to Aidan. From my experience, shushing works best, but don't overdo it. This is not some mild, gentle shushing sound. From the video, it's a strong, constant in-your-ear shushing. Very effective though. Not sure whether it's the calming reflex at work, or the shush sound is so overpowering that it paralyzes the baby into inactivity.

Sucking also works, but be careful with pacifiers. I read somewhere that it might cause ear infection. At the very least, too much sucking prevents your baby from having a deep sleep and makes them hungrier faster. Swinging is also quite effective. Again, take care that you don't jiggle baby's brain into mush. Swaddling, my baby doesn't like it. It prevents him from moving his arms around (obviously), which makes him crankier. YMMV.

Project Aidan: The Weekly Report

It's been a week since I took paternity leave from work. I'm finding I have more free time, yet I'm also busy day and night.

I spend the day (and night) bottle-feeding the baby, washing and sterilizing the bottles, boiling water, bringing out the laundry and back, changing nappies and baby clothes, preparing the baby's bath, taking out the trash, and buying stuff from the chemist.

And oh yeah, downloading the Masterchef episodes that we missed.

Hello, Aidan!

Baby Aidan was supposed to make his appearance two weeks later, but he just can't wait. The warm bath in the bathtub pacified him for a bit, but by midnight, he's at it again. At the Canterbury Hospital, Mau was taken to the birthing room and put on the laughing gas. The jokes must be lame because I don't hear her laughing. It did make her forget about her contractions until we were able to find an anesthesiologist awake enough to give her an epidural.

By morning, when everyone is up and awake, the doctor walked in and announced yup, it's time for business. So Mau started pushing. She huffed and she puffed, but she wasn't pushy enough. So out comes the scissors - snip, snip. In goes the forceps. And before you know it, Aidan slid out into the world. 2.49 kilos, 49 cm.

Hello, Aidan!

Oliveto 1st Anniversary

What better way to celebrate the first anniversary than to eat?

For our anniversary lunch, we make a booking at Oliveto Ristorante & Bar, nicely located at the Brays Bay Reserve in Rhodes. It was a sunny day, and we got a table overlooking the bay.

Menu, please:
Primo

• Crispy pork belly, orange, radicchio, snow pea runner salad, apple jam
• King prawns alla diavola, tomato chilli, garlic

Secondi

• Lamb rack, confit truss tomatoes, radicchio, fennel, black olive tapenade
• Confit duck, pearl barley risotto, morello sour cherry sauce

Dolci

• Limoncello souffle, lemon sorbeto
• Hot chocolate
• Cappuccino
  

Vivid Sydney - Macquarie Visions

As part of Vivid Sydney, the whole of Macquarie Street is converted into one big lights and sound show called Macquarie Visions.

This is already the last week, so I decided to take some photographs after work. It was colder that I expected. I had coughing fits, while walking my way to St. Mary's Cathedral. After picking up my complimentary festival torch, I proceeded to watch Designing the Nation, projected onto the facade of St. Mary's. On the way to the Hyde Park Barracks, we pass by the Downer Macquarie Arch, symbolizing the construction of the road over the Blue Mountains by Macquarie.

Next up is Fair Go at Hyde Park Barracks Museum and Common Wealth at The Mint. The Parliament House is featuring Advance Australia, with interviews on inspirational projects. At the State Library of NSW, we see Words on the Street. There's more at the Conservatorium of Music, but it's too far and too cold for me.

At Circular Quay, some of the building nearby also have special lighting turned on.

Premier Seat for the Baby

I'm in the market for a convertible baby car seat. Instead of going to Kmart or BigW or Babies R Us, I went to eBay. The secondhand ones on eBay are definitely cheaper. The only downside is that there are so many brands and models and price ranges, and you're not really sure what condition they are in.

So I find this auction for a Safe-n-Sound Premier baby car seat ending soon. $78 sounds reasonable to me, so I put in my bid at the last minute. Just to test the waters. There were a few interested bidders, so I'm pretty confident someone with increase the bid. I wanted to see how much a Premier really costs. I ended up winning the auction.

Steamed Fish Fillet with Fried Garlic

Ingredients:

• one piece of fish fillet
• 3 cloves of garlic
• ginger slices
• rice wine
• salt
• oyster sauce

Cut fish fillet into small chunks. Marinade fish chunks with salt and a little rice wine for half an hour.
Boil water. Put fish chunks in boiling water together with ginger slices and drain when the meat has changed colour. Pour a little oyster sauce on the fish.
Heat oil on pan. Fry chopped garlic until golden brown. Sprinkle on top of fish. Serve.

Baby and Kids' Market at Lane Cove

Got a last-minute email about a baby and kid's market at St. Ignatius College, Lane Cove. By the time we got there, all possible parking spaces are occupied. Lucky for us, on our third survey of the place, we managed to find one.

$3 entrance fee gives you access to lots and lots of preloved and brand new stuff for babies and little boys and girls. I find the baby clothes and towels and toys a real bargain. Nice cupcakes, too.

Trying out Google Search Stories

Was sort of inspired when the first SearchStory called "Parisian Love" came out. Google Search Story (via YouTube) is about telling a story through search.

Now Google allows you to DIY. Just go to www.youtube.com/user/SearchStories and click on "Create your own". Enter your search terms (up to seven), choose what kind of search you want (normal web search, images, maps, books, product search, blog search, or news), choose an appropriate soundtrack (non-copyrighted, of course), and voila! Your very own SearchStory.
Very easy - just type, select, point and click.

Lost. Money.

I've been paying good money to the local gym, but so far I've only been going there only once a week on average. Today, I decided to get some workout, and what have I to show for my troubles? An empty wallet. Only discovered the crime when I got back to the office. At first, I thought my colleagues were playing a prank on me, as I sometimes leave my wallet on the table. They all look innocent enough. Only other time the wallet is not on me is when I was at the gym earlier. Lucky for me, nothing else was taken.

Third Time Unlucky

Another flat tyre for the Holden Zafira. That's actually the third time that it had happened in recent weeks. First time was the Honda CR-V. Due to our proximity to a taxi garage, street parking in our area is pretty limited, so we parked the CR-V in front of the neighbor's. The first time it had a flat, we thought little of it. Called in Honda roadside assist to put in the spare.

A few days later, another flat for the CR-V. The first one's got a puncture, while the second one is missing the valve pin. As for the Holden Zafira, one of the tyres got deflated and we can't find the valve cover. Looks like somebody doesn't like us parking near his place. (Mind you, we're talking street parking. It's not like we parked in front of his driveway or something.)

Noble House Nights

Been watching Noble House for the past three nights. Based on the book by James Clavell, and produced by the same guy, this 3-CD mini-series sure bring back memories. The movie covers one week of Hong Kong in the 1980s. During this time, there were kidnappings, joint ventures, corporate takeovers, landslides, bank runs, boat fires, secret agent defections, etc.

Been a while since I last read the 1,000-page Noble House, so it was good to be re-acquainted with Ian Dunross, Quillan Gornt, Lincoln Barlett, Casey Tsolok, Four-Finger Wu and his son Paul Choy, Orlando Ramos, etc.