End of 2006

Been fully occupied since the arrival of my parents...thought I better put a few words in before the year ends.

The MONSOON has arrived and boy, coming from a draught and rain-less country of the Southern Hemisphere, this ongoing and pouring storm/drenching/thunder/bang-crash type down pour is a new thing for us. It takes a lot of getting use to.

The air is STICKY all day long.

Our clothes do NOT dry and has a "smell".

The kids are cooped up in the house. The external floors EVERYWHERE is wet and slippery (from moss).

The "locals" think that it's too cold to swim, thus our swim lessons are cancelled.

Our Aussie electronics are slowly self terminating from reasons we are sure is "humid" related. First our camera, then our video recorder, then our camera (again!) etc.

We sum up that Christmas in Singapore is WET. Though we had a lovely and glamorous homemade Christmas eve dinner at my cousins (another blog when I get time).

Letitia's hair has "permanent" curls due to the humidity.

Mathena is forever sticky to touch (she sweats a lot!).

We use the A/C as a dehumidifier.

My food don't go back so quickly.

In general, life here has been pretty lovely as we have our grandparents here. The girls are so happy to have them as part of our lives that they worry if the grandparents are not around the next day (their own little outing). Mathena adores her "Ah Kong" and though often teased to no end, she gives her own back to him as well eg. "How come you cannot read chinese? YOU are chinese and you TALK chinese (Hokkien dialect!). My mom has been Officer in Charge of the Laundry Area and it feels like ages since I last step foot in that area. It's great to have one more person help with the chores etc. Dad,...well dad is still dad! He gets bored every second day and is not happy with the lack of tennis in his routine. The rain does not help at all yet he manages to walk to the little "shops" for his daily papers and cup of thick coffee. We are still sorting out the finer details of homeschooling and I am getting quite 'tense' or worried. In Singapore terms, school is to start in a week's time, might revert back to Aussie terms. Alex has reluctantly went back to work after the long and slow Christmas weekend and we are reminded that there's no "Boxing day" holiday here. The great thing is Christmas is HUGE in the UK and people are STILL winding down from the holiday season and things at work are pretty slow for him. Lots of social events and cooking dinners ahead. Have to study for the conversion of our driver's licence, read to prepare for parenting courses, research and decide on homeschooling materials, get Letitia assessed and of course, entertain the family. I think I need another break!

New Babies!

MORE New Friends

My mom just told me that my nephews (Nathanael & Jeremiah) loves the turtle pics we put up on the blog. We so happened to have "purchased" more little 4 legged shelled friends last week but have not been able to capture the news. Our camera broke, so did our Video Cam and other Aussie Electrical items. Am sure the tropical rains has something to do with it!! So, here's some pics of the green turtle friends. The big ones are Ming2, Tuck (I cannot for the world know which is which, you guys have to ask the girls), the other babies are temporarily named "Linny and Looney"?!?

Mathena's Baby Recital

Mathena had her first ever "Baby-Recital" where all the moms sit in to have a look at all the "routines" they get up to behind closed doors. She did VERY well and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Mathena LOVES Ballet

1 UP for Singapore!!!

Okay, I admit that I have been a BIT strong against some moments and people I have bounced into here in Singapore. Something happen last night that made me QUITE impress with the people here...

I almost always leave the house with some sort of saga or drama. I had to zipped out to do groceries as our fridge was near famine level. I walked out with Mathena screaming for me for unsure reasons. To cut the story short, I visited NTUC, managed to fully checked out my groceries, paid for them and repacked them into my mountain full trolley, all the while with the check-out lady teaching me how to boil "lotus bulb and pork" soup. The guy behind me with one bottle of milk was quite restless.

As I later pushed my trolley to the taxi stand, I was amazed that there's noone lining up (lines are VERY common here) and I was the FIRST! I struggled to push my trolley to a decent distance from the curb in preparation to load all the stuff into the boot of the oncoming taxi. The taxi arrived, popped up the boot and I grab a couple of bags to load. Within a few seconds as I turned my back, I heard yells and screams and even "clapping"?!?

I turned around stunned to find my trolley sideways on the floor, justs slimmers away from scratching the taxi will ALL my groceries, rolling and sprawling everywhere. I froze there for a whole 5 secs (felt like 5 hours) while young men (school kids) and a couple of lovely ladies, came over to help me with all the bags. I had including the taxi guy, up to 4 people helping me. I was sooo thankful and kept repeating myself, "thank you, thank you, thank you!!!". My apples rolled under the taxi, some went to retrieve them (one got away!), my eggs were cracked, someone gingerly handed themto me, Alex's supper was squashed, someone picked it up. One lady even walked me to the taxi with a "you take care, okay?" note. I was so glad with all the EXTRA help yet I was SUPER embarrassed.

I now strongly believe that life does not just happen. It's crashes. At least for me! And I have a series of such stories to report. Meanwhile, it allowed me to see Singaporeans in a softer, lovable and gentler side. I am grateful and I will clock this up as a "point"!

Happy Birthday to Alex!

The Menu:
Entre
Chips & Dips
Prawn Toast with Coriander and Bamboo Shoots

Mains
Laksa (Rice Noodles with chicken, Egg, prawns, bean sprouts on Spicy coconut gravy)
Ka-chang Ma cooked in Chinese Wine (Herbal Chicken Kuching/Hokkien Style)
Crab Sauce Tofu with Brocolli
E-fu Noodles in Egg Sauce
Seafood/Avocado Salad

Dessert
Pineapple Upside down cake (success with crunchy base)
Self Saucing Chocolate Pudding (Baked too early, the sauce dissapeared!!!)
Tropical fruits with ginger syrup.

We had our cousins Iain & Phine, as well as our lovely new/old friends Richard & Clara with their kids over. My girls were thrilled to have so many people in our house. The kitchen sink was clogged and not usable 2 hours before our guests arrived. We even flooded the unit below. We had to resort to "Village style" washing up on the shower floors...yikes!

We enjoyed the cakes, everyone apparently liked it. The choc cake had to be cooked earlier (I should have planned it better) and the sauce resoaked back into the cake. BUT it tasted nice especially with ice cream. Laksa's great,...must cook ka-chang ma on the day, it was falling apart as it was done the day before.

Now we have tons of leftovers, half of which have gone off (courtesy of the tropical weather). I had a blast and enjoyed ALL my guests (cousin included who kept picking on me, hmmmph!) and would LOVE to have people over more. Sigh!

Hope you had fun too, dear Alex!

Zoo Visit No 2

Above, the tip-toe light footed Pygmy Hippos.
Here seen with Mommy Hippo supporting baby hippo on a morning nap with her nose.

It's wonderful to have Corporate Zoo Passes!

We've had our friends Cherie (been back a loooong way with us) & Johnnie visit us over the last week and the girls had the privelege to visit the zoo the second time in 4 months.

Thanks for the lovely time and the girls all had a ball!

Walking in the Winter Wonderland

Still Married

The last breath of our camera!

The highlight of the evening is when I had to hike 20mins up a hill to find this restaurant. Am only glad that it did not rain/bucket on us. After 10mins of wiping my sweat off my face, I settle into a nice quiet dinner. This marriage NEARLY did not last till the 10th!

This is where we went: WILD ROCKET

At last! A pic of US!

I thought and planned that by tonight while we have our nice romantic dinner, we will take the chance to have our picture taken. Afterall, it's a good reason to commetmorate the occasion.
BUT, you'll never guess what happened...

Our good old faithful Canon A70 took it's last image. A mighty blurred and distorted picture for that matter. I will upload that "arty" shot tomorrow.

At last, a picture of us as a couple. N O T!!!!
I think someone knows I dislike being captured on film... or is it just Murphy's Law?

A lovely end to our evening. Will write more...for full details, log in tomorrow!

Singapore is GOOD for our marriage!

Very rarely do you find ladies who do not like fresh flowers...the same reason our weddings are "covered" in flowers!

At around S$10 for 30 long stem roses, will I say no to such luxury?

How does HE love me? Let me count the ways..

What's a blog without a good boast! I had a SUPER day. I HAVE to rave about it..so please be patient and do not spite me for it.

Today is officially our 9th Anniversary. We have dinner lined up and as usual we dragged our bums out of bed to start the day. Alex left for work but had a "sad" look in his eyes. I thought he must feel bad for leaving me on this special day, so I waited for him near our "drop off" point (that's where I drop his stuff if he walks out without it via a window by our bamboos). I waited and waited and got a little bit worried. He did not show at all and I could not drop him his surprise chocolate bar.

I rang him and he told me he was trying out a new route to work. He's at 'the junction". Hmmm, very odd but that's okay....good to know that he's trying new things!

I later did the normal post-breakfast cleanup with the girls watching their "Wonderpets". I noticed the mac and decided to check my emails. Lo and behold, waiting for me is a "video" of Alex and the girls proposing to me (again!), asking me to marry him 1 year from today. See blog on the right column ....he's been real busy.

He later rang and I asked him where he was, now after reading the blog and knowing his "plans". Alex came home with a HUGE bunch of roses (now, 3 hours later and wilting), and went down on his knees, asking me to marry him. In front of my love struck little girls, who quickly told me that they are going to be our flower-girls....

What a lovely man. I am sure after 9 years, he's built enough courage to think of these weird and wonderful things. I will of course NOT reject him as we are already married! Not sure how we can pull this extravaganza off but...we have 1 year to make it happen. He took the morning off to spend time with us, helped me with groceries and library and he's off to work. Sigh!

9 years ago, we would have just started our bilingual ceremony on the Brisbane Kookaburra Queen. We were officially married by 3pm.

To be continued...

Leather Anniversary

It's pretty confusing! Depending on which stance one takes,
traditional or modern, the 9th Anniversary have different names
and different relevant "gifts"! This is suppose to be the "Pottery"
anniversary and the relevant gifts are pottery/willow/leather.

I opted for leather.

We have decided to take some time out for a nice dinner just
the two of us (initially included the kids). We have sought the
help of our new friends from Singapore to help babysit the
girls. Thanks J & S! You've both given your time and energy
to help us deepen and rejuvenate our couplehood. Our
marriage is still PRIMO in our lives and we truly appreciate
you both for your help. We'll try not to be too late and pray that the
girls will not play up too much for you both. Your rewards are in
heaven!!

Thanks Alex for making me the woman I am today.
Happy Anniversary!

Dancing today!

Here are some pics of the girls showing off to their daddy!

Mathena's Dancing

Today is Mathena's Official First dance lesson. Hooray!

We paid the bills, bought the accesories and she walked in happy and confident.

I am VERY impressed with this dance group. The have an "Admin" person there all times, a run around person to help the kids with their costumes etc. Very organised. Here's some pics of our little baby ballerina!!


I am seriously doing my colouring while waiting for big sister Letitia to finish.

At home all dressed (minus shoes and socks!)

Faces on Print!

S$3 worth of prints!

My latest Threat!

"If you are going to hold my own words against me, you better watch your back. I will BLOG you!" My recent conversation with Alex ended in gufaws and sniggers as I TRY to threaten him. Hmmm! Not working?Been told that the girls are looking more and more alike!

My demure lady in the making!

We enjoy taking photoes!