As many of you know, I had hired a domestic maid from the Philippines 2 weeks prior to my delivery, so that I could have some assistance at home with the baby and the household chores during my confinement period and maternity leave and also to ensure that there is ample of time for the maid to get adapted to her new work environment before I return back to work in mid-November. I had a plan. But all of those plans were crushed when I received an unexpected call a day prior to my discharge from the hospital on the 7th Aug 2011. My domestic maid had gone out to meet her ex-employer on her day off and got her ankle fractured in 2 places. I was left with no help. The doctor said the recovery time for her injury would be 4-6 weeks so I was still hopeful and decided to continue to employ her up till the 7th week when I realized not only was I running out of time, she also showed no signs nor showed any effort in trying to recuperate properly. That coupled with a couple of other issues we realized we needed to get a new domestic maid at the soonest, at least for the sake for Chloe. After all, that’s why we needed a domestic maid in the first place.

We searched with tons of agencies before finally selecting a maid, this time Indonesian who was due to arrive within 10-14 days tops. However, we got a call this morning from the agency informing us that the maid we selected was unable to come as she did not pass her medical examination. My hopes were crushed yet again. I have not had much recuperation time for myself and I was barely surviving with little or no help at home with the baby. And it was also taking a huge toll on David. David is already back at work, and caring for the baby during wee hours of the night has gotten him severely sleep deprived. I worry about his health and the sooner there is help, the quicker he’d be able to have ample rest and feel rejuvenated.

So here’s where we stand now. Most agencies that we looked into do not any profiles that can come in immediately, so therefore the waiting time for an Indonesian or Burmese maid is approximately 1 month and 6-8 weeks for a Filipino maid. All of the above meant, the maid would only arrive 2 weeks prior to the end of my maternity leave or 2 weeks after I return to work. Which only means I probably have no choice but to take an additional week to 2 weeks on my annual leave / child care leave which would also essentially mean I would fully exhaust all of the leave I have left for the year or at the very worst be on unpaid leave.

I am frustrated. The process of hiring a domestic maid is exhausting. It is taking forever. And unfortunately our other options are limited. My mother in law is working these days and My mother is pretty much caught up with her work and her divorce proceedings. My grandmother, the only actual person who has repeatedly volunteered to help unconditionally might be our other option. Except that my grandmother is 75 years of age and I would hate to see her health deteriorate from the demands that come with caring for a baby. The initial plan was such that once I get back to work, my grandmother will stay with us to oversee the maid and make sure that all is smooth on the home front till I get back home from work. I love my grandmother to bits for being such a sweet lady. Chloe is blessed to have a wonderful great-grandmother.

Anyhow I have short-listed 2 maids now. I will have to wait till Monday to interview them. Hopefully I can get this sorted out soon.

Much to our delight I found out I was pregnant in November last year, just around the time since my last post. We had been trying to get pregnant for about a year and it finally happened. A baby of our own! It was everything we dreamt of.

Pregnancy was pretty much a breeze with none of the usual pregnancy symptoms. I was due to give birth on the 8th August 2011 but after some initial complications, I gave birth to a healthy baby girl on the 5th August 2011.

Chloe Alexandria Fobrogo. Weighing at 2.79kg, she is my little miracle. It was love at first sight.

The first time I held her, it felt like I have known her forever. As her tiny fingers wrapped around my index finger, I could not take my eyes off her. Each time the nurses took her away, I yearned to see her again. I watched the clock like a hawk waiting anxiously for the next time they will bring her back to me. During the nights, though she was done feeding, I continued to hold her and watched her sleep ever so peacefully. And to date, I can’t stop staring at this beautiful little girl. She is truly a blessing. I wonder how she is going to look when she grows, what her first words would be, whether she would learn piano or ballet. My maternal instincts kicked in each time she flinched or sneezed.

Despite having very little or no sleep and not to mention the constant fatigue, I am truly blessed and thankful for Chloe. It’s no wonder people say motherhood is a joy. I never understood this till Chloe came along. I cannot imagine a life without my baby and I would do anything to keep her safe and healthy. I will not tolerate anyone that does not give my baby the love that she deserves to have. All of a sudden my aspirations and dreams revolve around Chloe, and from the moment she arrived, she became my #1 priority and I will ensure that I make all her dreams come true at all costs.

I am a mommy now, and I couldn’t be more happier with my life now.

“Something you should know about, I specialize in very special security, sub-conscious security”

“Your mind is the scene of the crime”

For years there have been several theories about dreams and the effect it has both on our sub-conscious and conscious states. Inception is a movie that captures the very essence of dreams and the mystery of how one’s mind can be manipulated.

It is a science fiction film that spins around Dom Cobb (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), a thief who extracts information from the unconscious minds of his victims while they dream. The story is based on Dom Cobb who is offered the opportunity to redeem his old life in exchange for one last job, to perform inception.

Inception, in this film is defined as “the planting of an idea into someone’s mind” in this case, the mind of Dom’s client’s competitor.

The film touches concepts such as lucid dreaming and dream incubation while tapping into psychological phenomena like introspection illusion and false memories.

Pain is felt in dreams, but death results in awakening.

Dom Cobb accepts a job from powerful Japanese businessman Saito (played by Ken Watanabe) to convince Robert Fischer (played by Cillian Murphy), the son of Saito’s terminally ill business rival to break up his father’s empire.

Dom Cobb and his team (consisting of a forger, a sedative chemist, and an architect) then start planning a way to execute this job. Using stronger sedatives and multiple dream layers, the whole team is placed at risk as death no longer results in awakening. We learn that with multiple dream layers, death could result in a person going into limbo, a world of unconstructed dream space for an indefinite time. Dom knew inception worked because as revealed later in the film, his wife Mal and him had spent 50 years in limbo where they had shaped their world and lives. After awaking, Mal was unable to distinguish dream from reality and was convinced that she was still dreaming, which eventually led her to commit suicide and incriminating Dom in her death which had led him to flee the U.S and the murder charges.

The forger who can change appearance inside dreams, changes into Peter Browning, Robert Fischer’s godfather, to suggest to Robert the false idea that Robert’s father had created a second will locked in a vault, all of which is a concept meant to begin Robert thinking about his relationship with his father. The story further develops with Robert and the team entering three levels in total for Robert Fischer to reveal the planted idea. To wake and protect the team, the member dreaming each level stays behind at that level, being assigned the triggering of synchronized “kicks”. Music is played into the dreamer’s ears to help synchronize the kicks by signalling to the dreamer on each level when a kick on the previous level is about to take place.

I was personally blown away about how the concept of a dream within a dream was depicted and filmed. Needless to say, this film is rare find and would probably be the only one of its kind for a while at the very least. It is a film that shakes the very core of your understanding of dreams and reality. It’s no wonder the brain remains to be the most mysterious organ in a man’s body.

It’s no doubt that critics have responded to this movie as smart and innovative. It is a “wildly ingenious chess game” as quoted by Rolling Stone Magazine.

This is a definite must watch if not for understanding the labyrinth of the unconscious mind, but at least for the brilliant direction and cinematography of the film.

A definite 5 thumbs up!

Please see link :

http://hubpages.com/hub/Inception-2010-Movie-Review

I cannot cook. Never been able to either. The best thing I could have probably mustered up was probably a cup of instant noodles. And it does not take a rocket scientist to figure that out. But with a new house, came…well…new responsibilities. I could no longer be dependent on my mom to cook me a hot meal at the end of a long day. I had to be dependent on myself to cook myself something if I wanted to eat. For the first 3 months, I was satisfied with Chinese take outs and fast food joints, but not only was that getting expensive, but after a while, I could not bear to bring myself to order in. The sight of Chinese take-out and fast food just became revolting. And that’s how I began my experimentations with food. I am an avid food lover, and well let’s just say I love food so much so that people could hardly believe that I cannot cook. Initially, I used to just laugh it off but as soon as you move out to live an independent life, the situation kind of becomes embarrassing, especially if you are married.

The inspiration to learn to make risotto really came from watching seasons and seasons of Hell’s Kitchen, that and actually having one at a fine dining restaurant once. My husband and friends said I was being far too ambitious for a beginner but hey no harm trying! And I must say after hours of toiling in front of the stove, it was a success and certainly an accomplishment. And since then, I know that it is not a question of whether or not one can cook but it is a question of whether or not one actually wants to try. Everybody can cook. It just depends on what you cook.

This recipe was adapted from Food Network.com courtesy of Tyler Florence.



Mushroom Risotto

Serves : 4-6 people

Total Cost of ingredients : 25 SGD (about 5 dollars per pax)

Ingredients

• 8 cups chicken broth, low sodium
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 onion, diced, divided
• 2 garlic cloves, minced, divided
• 1 pound fresh portobello and crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon truffle oil
• 1-ounce dried porcini mushrooms, wiped of grit
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
• Fresh Italian parsley, for garnish

Directions

• Heat the chicken broth in a medium saucepan and keep warm over low heat.

• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1/2 onion and 1 clove garlic, cook, stirring, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the fresh mushrooms, herbs and butter. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes until lightly browned, season with salt and pepper. Drizzle in truffle oil then add the dried porcini mushrooms which were reconstituted in1 cup of warm chicken broth. Season again with salt and fresh cracked pepper. Saute 1 minute then remove from heat and set aside.

• Coat a saucepan with remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Saute the remaining 1/2 onion and garlic clove. Add the rice and stir quickly until it is well-coated and opaque, 1 minute. This step cooks the starchy coating and prevents the grains from sticking. Stir in wine and cook until it is nearly all evaporated.

• Now, with a ladle, add 1 cup of the warm broth and cook, stirring, until the rice has absorbed the liquid. Add the remaining broth, 1 cup at a time. Continue to cook and stir, allowing the rice to absorb each addition of broth before adding more. The risotto should be slightly firm and creamy, not mushy. Transfer the mushrooms to the rice mixture. Stir in Parmesan cheese, cook briefly until melted. Top with a drizzle of truffle oil and chopped parsley before serving.

It’s fairly straight forward and once you have mastered this, there are different variations of risotto that you can try.

Please see link :

http://hubpages.com/hub/Learning-to-Cook-Mushroom-Risotto





A Mini Schnauzer is a small breed of dog that originated from Germany. Schnauzers are popularized for their temperament and relatively small size. Generally, schnauzers come in 4 colous : black, salt & pepper, black & silver and white.

My husband and I first stumbled upon Raine last year, she was about 2months old and unknown to us at that point, she had just arrived in the pet store earlier that day.

Our first impression of her was that she was relatively docile and quiet. Being first time owners, we did not realize that she was docile and quiet because she was on unfamiliar territories. We were instantly smitten by her and decided that she was the perfect addition to our family.

It has been almost a year now and our lives had been nothing short of an adventure with Raine. We are no experts with dogs but we truly are dog lovers. And as such this page is based on our findings with Raine which would hopefully help future first timers like us in house-breaking their dogs.

Having a puppy is extremely similar to infancy and toddler stages of parenting a child. Puppyhood (approx. from 2-5months) is not so much on what the puppy learns in terms of tricks and skills but rather about the environment and the people that surrounds him/her. Like a child, this is the most impressionable stage in a dog’s life. It imprints and identifies its leaders in the brain as it grows. Therefore, before you embark on this journey, it’s best advised to read up on the breed, the temperament, the general needs and not to mention the training bits to raising a dog.

The first few days with Raine was quiet and she stayed in her crate most of the time. When out of her crate, she would walk around the house learning and understanding her environment and the people that lived in it. She quickly identified the leaders.

The first whimp we had heard from her was on the 6th day she was with us. She started yelping and whimpering each time we left the room she was at. When it was time to feed her, she became almost uncontrollable and aggressive. It was virtually impossible to pour her food out in her presence. So we usually dished her food out in a separate room before leading her to the food. This gradually tamed her down and she grew accustomed to her scheduled feed times.

Also, never allow his/her food sit for more then 15 minutes. Dogs tend to test boundaries wherever and whenever possible. Even if he/she does not eat in that 15 minutes time frame, you should take out the bowl and only feed again at his or her next scheduled feed time. This would help regularizing his/her eating time and bowel movements. In the event your puppy does not want to eat in that time span, do not worry, just remember to leave a bowl of water out for him/her (as long she is hydrates herself it should not be a problem). We used to leave Raine’s food out for a long time and during the first few months we had a hard time getting her to eat on a regular basis, but with the 15min time frame, we roughly know when its time for her to relief herself and she too has become accustomed to eating at that time.

Pups during the first few months need to be fed at least 2-3 times. Once in the morning, noon (this might be optional) and in the evening. Gradually that can be decreased to twice a day and then when they are adults, probably once a day. So do not panic if you see that your pup is eating less as the time goes along. You might also want to opt for some immune boosters to be added (crushed or dropped) into her food. Raine had a flu bout within the first 2 months from the time we had adopted her, and the immune boosters had come a long way since. You can find these at any vets or local pet stores.

Schnauzers in general are alert and high spirited. They are also friendly (but only to those you identify as friends or family), intelligent and eager to please. They are fiercely loyal to their owners and are extremely protective. Excellent watchdogs with good territorial instincts, needless to add. However, schnauzers also demand attention and if not trained properly, they become restless and grouchy if adequate attention is not given to them. So unless you are able to give enough time for your schnauzer, this breed might not be the right fit for busy working professionals. Schnauzers are very energetic and playful beings. So a schnauzer that is confined to the home the whole day might not be advisable. Raine loves long walks and the sun. Usuaully after a 30-45mins walk, she is dead beat by the time she returns home and sleeps quite quickly without a fuss. Walks also help keep her calm and less aggravated.

If you intend to get another dog after having a schnauzer, I would recommend that you socialize your dog with other dogs as early possible. Schnauzers are generally territorial and might not adapt well to new dogs if not socialized properly. You might want to take her to dog meets or parties as and when possible.

My husband and I work odd hours so initially Raine had a terrible time adjusting to this. Often we came back home to evidences of her wraths and woe. But with time and adequate play time with her, that slowly subsided.

Raine was quite easy to housebreak. We had use amonia sprays to let her identify her “pee” spot and her “poop”spot. And needless to say, there have been those unfortunate accidents but she gradually learnt where in the house she is allowed to relief herself.

Do not yell and scream at her when these accidents happen. Show them that you are displeased and in a stern voice point at the area and say “No” in a firm but gentle voice and lead her towards the designated area and say “Here”. Re-affirm this constantly whenever such accidents happen.

Commands should be short, simple and easy for the dog to understand. It’s like teaching a toddler to speak. Imagine having to unlearn the only language you had ever known and learning a completely new language and that you can probably never speak out aloud. So remember to exercise lots of patience and show your dog that you love her. You need to be firm with your trainings so that she/he learns that these commands are not optional. They are intelligent, so once they learn that these commands are optional, more then likely, they are not going to listen and would only choose to do what they want to do, when they want to do it. However, schnauzers are generally easy to train as they are usually eager to please.

There isn’t much of a secret to house-breaking your dog. The key to success is patience, love and reaffirmation.

This is definitely an adventure worth having.

Good luck!

Please see link -

http://hubpages.com/hub/Mini-Schnauzer

“Diagnostician : A person who diagnoses, especially a physician specializing in medical diagnostics.”- The American Heritage Stedman’s Medical Dictionary.

The above pretty much sums up the gist of the show. The only thing that makes the series “House” stand out from the other medical drama series such as E.R, Scrubs or even Grey’s Anatomy, would be the show’s central character, Dr. Gregory House who is played by Hugh Laurie. The show clearly depicts Dr. House as an unconventional, misanthropic brilliant medical genius who has an insufferable attitude towards just about everyone he crosses path with. He leads a team of diagnosticians and his favourite tagline which incidentally became the show’s tagline, is that “Everybody Lies”.

Having aired from 2004, the show has had now 6 successful seasons, with its 7^th season premiering in September 2010. Throughout all of these seasons, Massive Attack’s classic  hit “Teardrops” has remained to be House’s theme song.

The show often depicts Dr.House clashing with his boss, the Dean of Medicine Dr. Lisa Cuddy, doing everything opposite of what Dr. Cuddy asks of Dr. House. At the start of season 7, Dr. Lisa Cuddy had become Dr.House’s girlfriend and the story starts revolving around their romance and them trying to strike a balance between work and their personal life. As compared to the earlier seasons, season 7 began with Dr. House often coming across as needy and vulnerable and you barely see the medical genius you once fell in love with in earlier seasons. It was only after the 4^th episode could you really see the Dr.House we all knew and loved re-surface. A typical episode of House follows the team of other diagnosticians attempting to diagnose and treat the patient’s illness, often passing incorrect diagnosis before landing on the correct one.The show usually focus on Dr.House’s unconventional medical practices rather than the actual detail of the treatment. The team tends to lean towards lupus, meningitis or hypoglycaemia as their initial diagnosis before Dr House arrives at the correct diagnosis seemingly out of the blue. This becomes predictable with each episode.

There is a striking similarity between Gregory House and the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The resemblance is uncanny in the way Gregory House handles his medical queries. He relies largly on inductive reasoning and  he refuses to accept any cases that he deems as uninteresting. His investigative method to logically eliminate symptoms also holds close similarity with Sherlock Holmes.

With the series House, it is evident that it is Dr Gregory House’s sarcasm and rather eccentric mannerisms that keeps making you come back for more. This is a fairly addictive show that took a down turn in Season 7 when Dr. House and Dr Cuddy entered a romantic relationship.  With his old-self only resurfacing after 4 episodes into Season 7, it would take a while for us to determine if Season 7 would be as acclaimed as the preceding seasons of House. For fans of House, do not give up just yet, things are never what it seems especially on House.

Please see  link :-

http://hubpages.com/hub/House-Series-Review

]]> http://desdemonadarcei.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/house-the-series/feed/ 1 desdemonadarcei HouseGregoryHouse h_352_110205 House in his office being eccentric