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!