Diaper talk: Combi’s Sangenic and garbage collection

Garbage segregation is strictly implemented here in Japan. Every household has a copy of the daily garbage pickup schedule – what type of garbage gets picked up at certain days and at what time. And if you’re a delinquent and your combustible garbage is with PET bottles, trust that the garbage dudes definitely won’t pick it up.

The schedule differs with every area. in ours, burnables/decomposing garbage and plastic wrappers/cellophane/styro and similar stuff gets collected twice a week at Mondays and Fridays (albeit burnables should be in a different garbage bag as the plastics). PET bottles are on Tuesdays, big boxes and old magazines/books (should be neatly tied and bundled together) every second Saturday of the month, und so weiter. And oh, it’s required that you use see-through garbage bags, well, sometimes, it’s out of courtesy as well.

During winter, spring and fall, the decomposing garbage getting holed up inside your house is just fine. The cold ambient arrests the bacteria that would otherwise cause foul odour. It’s a different matter though during summer when it’s hot and decomposing garbage could fester fast. Thankfully, we don’t cook much nowadays, especially during the workweek so it’s not torture at all.

However, I can just imagine how used baby diapers would reek after four days of being held up in the garbage can. Or rather, I really don’t want to imagine at all.

Hence, I am convinced that this special diaper trash can made by Combi is really a boon for parents in properly disposing their baby’s poop.

20120804-132940.jpg

20120804-133044.jpg

20120804-133146.jpg

The “contraption” is actually a bit complicated when we tried to check it out – Mayumi and Hubs had quite a good laugh about it as we explored how it is used. But basically, it uses a disk of partitioned cellophane. When you throw away the used diaper inside, the opened partitioned cellophane will “candy-wrap” the diaper as it goes to the bottom, leaving a newly opened cellophane gaping wide open to receive yet another used diaper.

Supposedly, the “candy wrapping” and good trash can seal can eliminate the odour seeping out of the trash can. Hopefully. Let’s see how it is in a few months’ time or should I say, next summer.

down with colds

Had to take half day leave today because my colds has started getting bad again, with tears streaming down my left eye. Thankfully we’ve already finished the re-HAZOP yesterday so there wasn’t anything urgent that I had to attend to today. Perfect timing, ze colds.

Spent the whole afternoon sleeping so I’m hoping I’d get to sleep early this evening still. I don’t want to take the day off again tomorrow since I only have pretty much a month before I take my maternity leave.

Hubs came home bringing a whole melon (the yellow variety, cantaloupe?) which I’ve been crazy for for the past weeks (honeydew and cantaloupe alike; no watermelon please), plums and cherries. We ate everything. So I’m hoping I had a good dose of vitamins there to help me recuperate. Thanks Hubs!

One thing I’m thankful as well. As I lie in bed, I can feel baby kicking left and right; sometimes even left and right AT THE SAME TIME. I don’t have twins so I don’t know how she does that haha. But I ain’t complaining. She can keep on kicking to her heart’s content. 🙂

Baby diaries: a family visit and our 4d experience

Hi Baby! We had our checkup again yesterday, a bit more thorough than the last couple of visits had been and longer time with the ultrasound machine since your measurements had to be taken, after a month when it was taken last. Yes, we have more photos of you this time and also quite a number with you captured on 4d! There’s no doubt this time, after the 4d; you’re definitely a girl. 🙂

But it was pretty interesting because the moment the nurse changed from 2d to 4d, it was at that time that you started crying. Haha. So your face was all contorted and such. But thankfully after a while, you settled down and went back to a peaceful slumber so you got quite a lot of decent photos as well. Your Ojichan and Aunt Mayumi (yes they’re here to visit dad and mom and you!) saw your photo already and I can’t wait to show it to your Obachan and Mama and Papa and Uncles.

Ob said your measurements are fine (thankful!), and not big at all like what everyone has been expecting. But Mommy has put on so much weight and fat than is necessary (the nurse had to push on my tummy at some point during the ultrasound because my “layers” we’re too thick. Ouch) hence Ob strictly told me to lower my calorie intake. And I guess I have to follow him and learn to curb my cravings because last Thursday and Friday, the terrible pain that strikes me whenever I stand up from sitting down/lying in bed was really too much. So, no more ice cream (your dad seem to be also craving for this quite a lot recently) and cake for us for the next two months.

And as I said, your Ojichan and Aunt are here! We’ll pick them up in their hotel later this morning for a bit of sightseeing. Ojichan advised though that it’s best to buy your stuff now while it’s still not so hot and I’m smaller and your Aunt also want to go see baby stuff in malls so we’d probably go shopping around for your goods.

Ja, have to prepare now baby lest we’ll be late for the meet up. 🙂

pregnancy photography

I’m not really comfortable enough to flaunt my big belly now and have a maternity photography session with a professional photographer. It goes to say as well that all the “progress photos” of my belly that I’ve been asking Hubs to take will remain private.

I would love to have one though, if only…

My favorite so far was a series of photos done by a photography enthusiast herself. Too bad I wasn’t able to get a copy of it when I saw it in Facebook. This one which I saw in Facebook as well came in a veeeery close second favorite.

20120708-180546.jpg

Hmmm…maybe I can have one same as this….

baby dreams

Dreamt about you again baby. This time, I dreamt that I already gave birth to you. But it’s a bit weird because you popped out of a luggage! It looked like the gray luggage that JAL gave to me in exchange for my pink luggage that got broken during the flight.

I didn’t feel any pain at all while giving birth. After all, you popped out of a luggage. You were still connected to me through the umbilical cord and my tummy is still big as it is. And you were big! As big as a one year old and already very hyper and was smiling a lot, showing off your dimples on both sides of your cheeks.

But you were a boy then, looking so much like your Dad but with much thicker eyebrows. You were so cute! Yet even as I cuddle you, my tummy is still big.

Funny desu yo? 🙂

baby-safe home

After almost a month of hiatus, Hubs and I went about mall hopping again looking for baby stuff (and of course shopping for ourselves, on the side ^_^), with Babies R Us as our main objective this time.

We realised that the benefits of window shopping (onsite and online) is that as we get to see more options, what we want gets pretty more defined.

Earlier today, I was telling Hubs that when hopefully Baby already started walking, we should find a way to lock the cabinets in the kitchen, especially the ones under the sink, where the knives are – I do shiver at the thought.

When we looked around Babies R Us earlier, we found really cute options that could help us keep our home safer for Baby.

Cute electric plug socket covers.

20120701-010537.jpg

20120701-010631.jpg

And THIS is what we need to lock our cabinets.

20120701-010850.jpg

I have a feeling Baby will have a lot of Miffy stuff; there’s so many cute baby stuff with Miffy. 🙂

This one’s to lock the fridge.

20120701-011112.jpg

Even as an adult, I still get my finger pinched between the door and its frame by accident. Knowing how painful it is, this one makes it a must to protect baby from getting pinched.

20120701-011454.jpg

This on the other HAND, is for unsafe corners.

20120701-011850.jpg

Who says fashion and function can’t go together? I’ve always been a proponent of fashion and function’s togetherness. Because really, they can.