Korea Late Winter Sonata 2015 -Seoul - Dora Observatory/Lunch/ Dorasan Train station

 Dora Observatory is located on top of Dorasan where one can pay 500won to use the telesope for 2min to try look into North Korea.

Vistors trying to look into North Korea

We didn't try the telescope since it was too foggy to see much and stood around trying to take pictures.

Too foggy to see much from here

There was nothing much here except for the observatory and a small gift shop selling some North Korea mechandises. There were some North Korea's alcohol which I saw vistors getting excited over. Well, not a drinker and we brought nothing here.

Then we were brought to a canteen near the border where we paid KRW 10,000 each to have "buffet lunch" where we were given plastic plate to fill up with the food in a line. A bit like army lunch line. There are vegetarian and non vegetarian options and you can go for the line again if you feel like it.

This is the only eatery nearby and we do not have other choice. The funny thing that happen here is there are alot of television broadcasters on standby here and our group is a bit freaked out thinking that something major had happen since the broadcasters are camping here.

We kept asking our guide and she had no choice but to go ask 1 of the campers to calm us down. Imagine if there is some provocative actions by the North and we are just at the border! Scary thoughts. Haha

Turns out there are some talks for the wages of the North Korean workers for Kaesong Industrial and the broadcasters are going to repor the results.

Our lunch

Then we moved on to Dorasan Train station where this the last station in the South before moving into North's territory.

Brief introduction of Dorasan station

There isn't much train services to this station and I am not sure whether your required special passes to board the train since it is near to the border.


You can however pay a nominal fee to buy a ticket to the platform to take pictures. Clever way of earning monies I say. Everyone in the group did so to go down to platform.

Ticket counter

Waiting to go into the platform

Next available train to Seoul

There was this map of the projected Trans Siberian railways where they hope one day the North will open it's door to allow trains to pass through and connect up the railways. Then Dorasan station will be the first station towards North, no longer the last station of South.

Trans Siberian Railway map

Station name at platform

I think the DMZ train is a kind of tourist train where you need purchase special tickets to board. Didn't look up the details since I have booked this tour.

But then again if you have taken the train here, there is basically nothing else here to see and the only thing you can do is wait for the return train.

Distance to Capital of both Koreas

The track to North

This is by far the most dead train station I have been to in the places I visited. There is practically no activity here and station is located in middle of no where. Quite a sad station to me.

Hopefully someday the routes towards North will open up and the Trans Siberian railways will take place and we get a chance to jump on the train to take in the sights. Then again will I ever have the chance to see this happening? I don't know. Afterall, the North had shut its door for so long and had no indication when it will open up.

Front of train

Maybe during the next visit when we have more time on hand I will book the train trip on this DMZ train just to see what it is like for the journey to here. Shouldn't be too long since it is 56km away from Seoul, the East Coast train we took had a much longer journey.

We then moved on to the last destination, 3rd tunnel tour.

My First Mother's Day

It has been a really long wait for me to celebrate Mother's Day though once upon a time I am not even sure I will have a chance to celebrate.

Yesterday came and went quietly with no celebration in my household. Partly because the boys are still too small to know and partly Mr Love and I were dead tired from looking after them.

Weekends are crazy in our house as we are on our own since Mummy only help out during weekdays. Personally I love the family time we have to bond but then there are times I wished I had some time to myself. Piggy brother did came by for a few hours to help rock the boys while Mr Love run some errands and I do housework. I reckon things will get easier once they are older where we could put them in playroom to play. Then again, they might required more attention from us since they will be very mobile.

Came across an article to console women who are waiting for their turn to be able to celebrate Mother's Day telling them they are not forgotten.

Felt alot of emtions when I read the article for I was once part of them, wondering when is my turn while friends around me celebrated this day delicated to all Mothers. It doesn't make me any less a mum than them since I went through alot before the Dinos are conceived. Just that I am not entitled to celebrate without a child in my arms.

Though there is no celebrations for my first Mother's Day, I felt contented watching my Dinos sleep, drink milk and most importantly poo. I spent the whole day begging them to poo as a present to me. They did in the evening after drinking some water and rounds of assistance to get them poo.

Such is Mum's life.

Dinos wishing everyone Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers, Mothers to be and Mothers wanna be.

Korea Late Winter Sonata 2015 -Seoul - DMZ Village/Bridge of No Return/Hacked Tree incident

And so we boarded the bus again which will take us to a higher point where we are able to see the DMZ propaganda village of North Korea side where it is built to attract South Koreans to cross over and stayed. Sounds funny to me since I think no South Koreans in their right mind would defect over. Then again, you never know human minds.

Group members trying to look out to the North side

Our guide explaining to us

It was believed that the buildings there are empty nests. Our liaison told us that during night time if you look over to the buildings, the top levels are most lighted and the light density gets dimmer as we descend. So it was concluded that there are no stairs inside, just empty buildings where the lighting are fixed on the top most level shining downwards which explains the uneven lighting density observed.

Then again, no one can confirm this assumption.

Another "place of interest" is a huge ass flag pole that was erect to counter the South's flag pole. Really huge since we can see clearly from where we are standing which is quite some distance away.

Also there are multiple guard post along the border, not so much to prevent people from entering but to prevent people from leaving. We cannot see whether there are any guards inside but was told that should be even we cannot see them.

Spot the large ass flag pole

Everyone tries to take pictures of the opposite side.

Its really funny that we spent time taking photos of barren lands and nothing much but everyone still want to leave some memories of this place.

Comparison of the flags

Since it is still winter season, everywhere we see are barren landsand more barren lands and it was really chilly to be standing her. On top of it there is pretty much nothing to see so the stop was brief and we moved on back to the bus.

Then we did a drive pass an axe tree accident site when both sides clashes over chopping down of a tree which results in deaths of soldiers. There is a plaque now in place of the tree to commentate those who perished in the unfortunate incident.

The plaque

And the next drive past point is Nulmoon Bridge or The Bridge of No Return where (if my memory didn't failed me ) repatriate of each country's POW was done back during the just after war days.

Nulmoon Bridge

After this drive past, we were taken back to the main building where we watched a documentary of the history of the Korean War which is essentially not over yet. There are also a display hall of various artifacts of the war.

With this we ended the tour at DMZ area and we proceed to the next destination, Dora Observatory and then lunch.

Happy 3rd months

Happy 3rd months to my 2 Dinos. In a blink of eyes, my maternity leave is ending in 4weeks time and I would not have so much time to spend with my Dinos. Now I understand the feelings of mummies who are heading back to work after their ML. Really cannot bear to leave my Dinos.

The Dinos are getting more and more interactive nowadays since they found their voice and make goo ahh sounds. Its beginning to seems like they are trying to talk to us whenever we engaged them in "conversations". Haha

Louis and Papa chatting

They also learnt quite a few tricks during this month. Like sucking of fingers LOUDLY to alert us that they are hungry. Both did it at different times. Haha It's funny cause sometimes we don't realised they are awake in their cradle till we hear the sucking sounds.

Louis sucking his fingers

Lucas with the same trick

Their wardrobe also upsize faster than I can say "Upsize". We suddenly realised they have outgrown alot of clothes and scrambled to let them wear those which still fits before it gets store away for good. Its a bit emotional to see their new born clothes get kept away for it reminds me that once upon a time they were only this small and they are now growing well though it's always in the 25 percentile. But I am not complaining already since I'm afraid they might get my genes and ballon up haha.

1st month photo where the romper is still quite roomy

3rd month photo. Going to burst the seams already

I would like to think that they know how to recognise the work "Gai Gai" which means shopping. Usually I would inform them in the every morning if we are going out and they would get excited and refuse to nap. Especially Louis, it's like he is afraid we might leave him out of the action. Even if he falls asleep, he would soon wake up. Haha Tried a few times and got the same results everytime. So I concluded that they knew what I am talking about.

Lucas at Day5 going to KKH for follow up

Louis at KKH follow up during Day 5

Louis during 1st month injection outing

Lucas during 1st mth injection outing

Initially, Lucas will be sleeping away during outing no matter where we bring them. Haha Louis is the curious one who refuse to sleep and tries take in all the sights but will become cranky when we reached home since he will be too tired .

Curious Louis who refuse to sleep

Always sleepy Lucas

 And starting from 2weeks back, Lucas also decided that he would need observe the surroundings and not only sleep during outings. Quite a funny sight since you literally see them fighting the zzz monster to keep their eyes open. But when they become cranky upon returning home, suddenly it was not that funny anymore.

 We also tried strapping them to the car seat and let them get use to car rides since I planned to bring them back to my mum's hometown. But it seems they still cannot handle long distance and would be irritated when the car stops.

They also don't really like to be strapped to the seat. I guess we need more training on this part.

Louis on car seat

Lucas on car seat

 And we brought them out to dinner using the double stroller. Again they didn't like to sit inside for long and the double stroller was too big and got in the way of other shoppers since we need reclined the seats all the way for the Dinos.

Regretted buying this stroller since I reckon we will not be bringing them to the mall in this. I would prefer baby wearing and a single stroller if tired.

This is how we roll

Large eyes

Baby wearing Louis

How we had our lunch in Swensens

All dressed up to go buy lunch on a Sat

I guess when I go back to work, we will not be bringing them out that often since one will be at my mil house during the day. Hopefully we have got the energy to bring them out during weekends.

Happy 3rd months my darling boys. May you two grow up healthy and happy.

Being a twins' mum - 60days later thoughts

Its been 2 months plus since Dinos' arrival and I'm learning something new everyday through them. Here's a list of what I've learnt.

1). Sleep is a luxury.

Everyone keep telling me this prior to giving birth since I'm well known for sleeping alot. But you never know till you get to experience it. Have officially took over the night duties and I kid you not. Literally have no sleep especially from 3-6am. Since I staggered the twins' feeding time. It would meant an hour of feeding and burping. That is if they wake up 1 after another. Sometimes, there is an half hour break between and I get to rest abit but not sleep. Then on bad days, in between the feeds, they demand diaper change or take longer time to fall asleep back. I try to handle all on my own since Mr Love is working while I'm on ML. If both are demanding attention then Mr Love gotta lend a helping hand. 

2). Shopping is no longer for your stuff 

Got a little break the other day while I went back for post natal check up and I went for a little round in the mall hoping to get a back pack for Mr Love and our yearly matching jerseys. No such luck. I got bored looking at adult stuff and end up at the kid's department buying bigger bottles for the Dinos since they are increasing the feeding amount. Then I decided I missed them and went home. 

3). Amazed at your endurance level

You will endured the child bearing pain in my case the c sect pain to bring your children safely to the world. I always thought I have zero tolerance to pain and is scared stiff of child birth process. But now that I think back, its not as scary as I thought. In fact, I was up and about by 2nd day latching my Dinos despite the pain. Was carrying 1 of them home during discharge. Didn't even remember the pain when the time arises to care of them. Was off pain killer after 2weeks as I need breast feed them and didn't want extra medication in my system. 

Breastfeeding is painful too especially initially. But since breast milk is the best you can give to your children, I ignored the pain and pressed on. Even when the ducts are blocked and inflamed, I latch them on religiously though my supply is not much to speak off.

4). You never knew you can love a person (or 2) so much

Sure, I love Mr Love a lot, love my mum tons but the love for my Dinos is a whole new level. On some days when I hold them or watched them sleep, the sudden gush of love just come rushing out. They look like perfect little human being to me.

I couldn't bear to see them cry, see them get poke for blood test, take injections.

Sometimes when Mr Love is coaxing them when they cry, it takes all self control not to interfere since they dun response to Papa's coaxing that well. 

5). You are never that happy to see poo

Poo and urine are essential for new born. Especially for those with jaundice like our case. I was obsessed with their colour, amount and number of poo and urine they have each day. Would supervised the nappy change initially during confinement just to ensure the colour and texture is correct as per doctors' advice.

Never been so happy to see poo in my whole life.

The obsession didn't go away even after we cleared jaundice after Day 25. In fact, I started a record book just like what KKH taught us to do for the 1st 14days. I took it upon myself to continue the homework.

It's especially helpful for twins since I can keep track of their feeding time, amount and also their poo and urine history.

Sometimes, I will review the feeding amount if I noticed the feeding time lapse got nearer. 

6). Boobs are magical

Yes, I find my boobs to be magical. It does wonders to calm a cranky baby down in matter of seconds be it whether there is milk or not. They take comfort in sucking their mom's nipples I think. I try not to latch them that much now since am going back to work and I don't want them to get use to latching and then give my mum trouble when I am not around. But sometimes to calm them down, I would take the easy way out and latch them on.

7). Sometimes they just want mummy

There are times when Papa just couldn't calm them down no matter how hard he tries, especially with Louis. But when I take over and start to pacify him, he would he quieten down. Not immediately but still I am  able to pacify him by keep talking to him.

Papa is a bit jealous on this point since he is trying his best to pacify Louis also but to no avail. The methods we used are the same but I guess babies are able to relate to my voice more since they have been hearing it from the day they exist in this world. 

8). Patience is all it takes

Our free time are all gone, in fact we time our meal, bath and toilet breaks around the Dinos' schedule. Sometimes, we are impatient to get them to sleep after a feed so that we can get a little break in between. But trust me, the more impatient you are, the more they don't cooperate with you. I have since gave up trying to find time for myself.

9). Get use to it not get out of it

A few people me how do I cope with the Dinos' night duties without help of a helper. I seriously cannot answer. I guess I just got used to it instead of wanting to get out of the night duties. Over time, it became a habit to wake up at night. Now I will wake up automatically near their next feeding time since I keep a record of the timings.

This is useful to prevent them from crying out loud for milk since I would have prepared the milk already instead of rushing to prepare it when they cry. Once they stirred, I would start preparing the milk and then carry them for diaper change before the feed.

On days when I'm too tired then I will be awake by their cries which by then I will have to move in lighting speed. Mr Love had the luxury to sleep through the feedings since he had to work. That being said, he would help out if the 2 of them wakes up at the same time which is not often. Also on Friday and Saturday near dawn feed to allow me have a longer sleeping period of 3-4 hours.

As scary as it sounds for twins night feeding duties, it is not impossible once you get the hang of it. But the price paid is you get a most of 2hrs sleep straight if you are lucky. Else 45mins is considered god send. Haha

10). Don't be shy to ask for help

This is especially essential for families with twins.

On some days, we just feel very worn out from taking care of the Dinos and would welcome any form of help.

We are on our own on weekends as my mum only help out during weekdays day time. But she does alot more than looking after the Dinos. She does the bottles washing, laundry of theirs and our clothes and even house work.

Come weekend, these tasks are past back to us on top of looking after Dinos. Being first time parents, we are naturally slower when it comes to taking care of Dinos and therefore spent more time on them. So when any of my brothers visit, it is always welcome since they can help keep an eye on Dinos while I get busy with chores.

And yes, I am not shy when it comes to asking them to help. My elder brother would help rock them to sleep and call out to me if they cry for attention. While my younger brother does alot more by helping to feed, burp the Dinos and making them sleep.

Even if they drop by for a few hours, I would be very grateful for the extra help we get.

My Babies @ 2months

Why I choose to give birth in KKH

I get quite a few asking me why I chose to give birth in KKH when there are private hospitals in Singapore. A lot of people's perception of KKH still remains at the era when my mum give birth to me i.e 1980s where the nurses can holler at you as and when they happy.

Can still see quite a few comments of the ill manners of KKH staff  but usually its from subsidize clinics. Truth to be told, I did not encounter any of ill manners staff even when I was with subsidize clinic for check ups prior to conceiving.

There was this instance when I went to draw blood at the treatment room and the nurse told me that I'm the first patient of the day to smile at her though its already 3pm when I went in. You can imagine how her day passes when most of the patients came in with long faces but yet expect the staff to be nice, friendly to them. In a nutshell, you get what you reap. If you be nice to them, the nurses will reciprocate.

But I must say that the junior doctors of KKH are not very desirable. I find them not very knowledgeable and also not very good at handling or breaking news to patients. For instance when they found that my Dinos are MC twins, the house doctor who is on duty in ADC clinic told me that this is not necessary a happy news to be carrying MC twins since its considered a high risk pregnancy and complications are common. I was shocked at her attitude. I mean how can  you say this to a pregnant woman who is over the moon on her twin pregnancy? I wrote a feedback letter to KKH straight after my check up haha.

Another instance is when I was diagnosed with incompetence cervix at week 21 and again the house doctor on duty in ADC told me that I had miscarriage and I nearly had a meltdown there and then. It was only later when my gynae sent a specialist dealing with IC up to see me then she explained to me that I am facing the risk of miscarriage not suffering from it. It makes such a huge difference in the explanation given by 2 different doctors, 1 senior and the other 1 junior.

Again during when I was admitted at the hospital for bed rest and cerclage, the resident doctor who does rounds everyday was pretty unhelpful. While I know the decision of whether to go for the operation lies with me but the resident doctor was not very helpful when my mum questions her the risks of the operation since we are at week 21 of pregnancy stage already. Her reply to my mum is  "Auntie, even crossing the road has its risk, how can an operation carry no risk? My mum was offended. She was just concerned about her daughter and grandchildren.

The senior doctor who is performing the operation for me on the other hand was much more assuring. She told me she was confident of performing a successful surgery though there isn't much results on how long twins pregnancy can hold after stitching up the cervix. I chose to go for the surgery since the doctor performing is so confident. Had the choice of not doing but I don't want to risk it.

In a nutshell, there is still room for improvement for the junior doctors to catch up on how to handle patients but then the senior doctor are more confident and experienced which makes me feel assured of my them handling my pregnancy.

Another factor of choosing KKH is cost factor. Many private gynae charges a package fee for 20visits after week 16 while KKH doesn't have a package. We pay by per visit for private patient in KKH. Each visit sets us back by 110bucks for a scan and routine test. For my case, the costs is much higher since I need to check every 2 weeks and also certain check ups for twins are much more expensive. The final tabulation by KKH for my pre natal check ups is 3.5K which is really much higher than private gynae.

But if you take a step back to think in longer term (i.e all the way to delivery) the total costs is actually much lower. I actually cannot understand why some women are not able to see this or is it because I'm trained in accountancy and therefore more sensitive to overall costs?

While all private gynae will have a delivery fee (different charges for different kind of delivery), KKH's delivery package is all inclusive. Meaning to say if you don't get charge extra by the gynae delivering for you even though you are a private patient with them.

For my case, we paid SGD 2,439 as an initial deposit for a B1 class for elective c-sect where I would be staying 4D3N at the hospital. The amount is after taking into consideration of SGD 3,950 claimable from Medisave. Of course this is just an estimation based on median prices most patients paid. Should you face any complications or stay lesser than required days, KKH will refund or collect more from you after discharge where they would send a final bill to you. I was entitled to refund some 400bucks. All these are exclusive of babies' stay.

I heard stories of friends paying a good 10K cash for delivering in private hospital with c sect. This is scary to us since we are having twins and should any of the babies require extra stay or care the costs will be unthinkable.

Even with my pre natal check up costs, the total I paid for delivering my twins is around 6K. Its way lower than any of the private hospital charges. I get questioned at not choosing A1 class in KKH since it's charges will be lower than private hospital. Again I don't see the rationale of it. Yes, my hubby may bunk in with me if I stayed in an A1 ward but for what use? I paid for the hospital fees and should I need help at night, I can call for the nurses. My hubby need not tired himself out by staying there with me doing what the nurses can do and we must pay extra for it some more. That being said, Mr Love was usually with me during visiting hours and only leave at 8pm to go home and rest.

I do realised that many think that since women now is having less kids or having a kid is not that easy on a woman, therefore we should choose the best during our delivery and not scrimp on the costs. But if you take a step back and think, I rather save the monies for my kids' use. I mean what's is the different between staying in a C ward and A ward when I don't feel at home at all in the hospital? It's just a bed to me and if I can get my way, I would choose the lowest class to go to. But for a private patient, we can only choose B1 or A1.

For my Dinos, Lucas was all along in the normal nursery and his final bill is SGD 16.50 after deduction of SGD450 /day from Medisave. Louis was warded to Special Care for a day. We are being cleared for discharged on the same day and need no further stay. But you never know before you deliver especially in my case when I had complications during pregnancy. All the more we need prepare ourselves in case of any emergency arises which will results in early birth of the children.

In conclusion, I am happy with my decision to have my check ups done and deliver in KKH. Besides the costs, I do find them having more state to art equipment for scanning. Also my own gynae was an assuring one where I feel safe in his hands. Also I know KKH is more well equip to handle the complications that might arise during my twin pregnancy which is an essential factor to consider since we faced pre term delivery back then and Dinos' well being is top on my list.