Hello 2018!

We are already halfway into January 2018! I suppose the most exciting that happened this month is that little Helene is now officially a school-goer!

But let me detract a bit and blog about what we did during New Year's. So it has usually been the custom for us to check into a hotel or Airbnb to celebrate New Year's with our friends, and this year it was no different. We booked an Airbnb (our friend refers to it as "someone else's house" lol) at 68PG Sunrise Gurney which was a duplex apartment with 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms, kitchen and living. It was quite nice, I must say.

We had dinner at Gurney Paragon but we didn't stay for the countdown as the place was quite crowded. So we walked back to the apartment and at the stroke of midnight, we could see the fireworks from Straits Quay. However nothing beat the spectacular fireworks show we witnessed 2 years ago when we stayed at the Maritime Hotel.

Come the first week of January, it was back to school for the girls. Hannah is in Standard 3 this year and Heidi is in her last year of kindy. So Helene and Heidi can go to school together, just for this year. Helene was definitely very excited on her first day, despite months of protest that she didn't want to go to school.

I was expecting a lot of tears, as she is quite attached to me, but surprisingly she was fine, and still seems to be fine even now. On her first week, she even told me that she told another child (her classmate) not to cry. Okkaayy :)

She wasn't too happy however when I took her to take a photo for school as requested by her teacher. It took a lot of promises and negotiation (not bribery lol) for us to finally get this photo. She wanted Kinderjoy, which I bought for her as she co-operated to give us an acceptable photo haha. At least there was a hint of a smile :)

So my littlest baby is finally going to school. I posted on my social media that it was so exciting and so sad at the same time! I'm going to enjoy the last few years of her childhood while I still can :)

Happy new year!

Okay, so I'm a little late, seeing that it's already the 18th day of the year, but better late than never! It was a busy start to the year, with 2 kids starting school, but 2 weeks into the school year, we are happy to report that we are more or less in a routine, and everyone is settling in well.

So just to rewind a bit, we ushered in 2016 at Maritime Waterfront Hotel with some close friends. The room was really very nice (it was a duplex suite) and the kids had lots of fun playing with each other.

Best of all, the hotel is located at Karpal Singh Drive, so we had the best view of the fireworks from the hotel window without having to push through the crowds downstairs, where they were having the countdown. Only Helene missed it as she was already fast asleep.

The following week, it was time for school! Hannah started primary one and we were allowed to visit before and after school, and during recess time. We did not cater from the school canteen for her, so she takes packed food from home everyday. There was an incident that her exercise books got mixed up with her classmate's so I had to buy another set for her, but other than that, everything is going well. Some of the mummies of her classmates have set up a WhatsApp group chat, so we can keep each other informed about things that happen in school, and homework updates, thanks to the advancements of technology!

Heidi on the other hand, started 2 days later as it was orientation week at her kindergarten. We were quite concerned about how she would fit in as she can be quite a non-conformist and likes to do things her own way. We were also expecting some tears, but surprisingly, there were none! She also likes to sleep in and it can be quite hard to wake her up in the morning, but the 2nd day of kindy, she woke up herself and said "Mummy, faster, I want to go to school!" So it was good that she adapted really well.

Today is the beginning of the 3rd week, and she can now walk in herself to her classroom without us having to follow her in.

Our early morning routine is now as such. Hubby will wake up early and get Hannah ready for school. I usually also wake up around the same time, so to help him get her ready and give her breakfast etc. Then they leave the house by 6.45 and she gets to school by 7.20. He then goes to office to get some work done.

I get myself ready first before Helene wakes up (but usually she is awake once I am awake), and then wake Heidi up and get her ready and give her breakfast. I then leave the house around 7.45 am, drop off Helene at aunty's house, then go to pick Hubby from office before we drop Heidi to school. Then we go for breakfast, and I drop him back at office before going to work.

This has been working quite well, so we'll see how it goes. Another 2 years and Helene will also be going to school. All the girls are growing up so fast!

Here's wishing everyone a very happy belated 2016! Cheers!

Our trip in photos

Happy new year 2015! Hannah and I spent the new year in Adelaide for my sister's wedding. We flew on Christmas night and arrived early on Boxing Day. It was a relatively short trip but we were quite busy with wedding preparations and all.

Here are some of the highlights of our trip - I'll let the photos do the talking :)

We had delicious pizza for lunch the first day we arrived - yummy!

Hannah enjoyed making animal shape waffles with Nanna - I actually brought the waffle iron home so hopefully we will have the chance to do this again.

We also went strawberry picking at Beerenberg Farm. The strawberries were really red, big and sweet.

Okay, the photo above does not do justice to the strawberries - now can you see how big and luscious they are?

We went for a meal at the newly opened Jamie's Italian restaurant in Adelaide. There is no point calling in for a booking as the tables have been fully booked months in advance. However, you could go there and leave your number and they will call you once there is a table available. Our wait was 1 hour and 20 minutes, so we decided to wait at the bar and have some appetisers and drinks while waiting. This is the exterior and interior of the restaurant. It used to house a bank, hence the official looking exterior.

When we finally got a table and ordered, the food was worth waiting for. Hannah had her kid's meal of fish fillets and chips, and the fish was actually salmon, her favourite fish! So that made her a happy kid, together with her vanilla ice cream with butterscotch sauce and honeycomb crumbs! They were nice enough to serve her kid's meal when we were waiting for our table, as we told them that she was hungry. They also gave her a special binoculars type of contraption which she could see the kid's menu in pictures. The linguine was al dente and delicious, and the Epic Brownie was the best I have ever eaten. Will definitely be back here again, and hopefully this time, the wait won't be as long!

We also went to Gumeracha to visit the big rocking horse, and this time, Hannah was a brave girl and made it all the way to the 2nd level. Maybe next time, she can go all the way to the top! Nevertheless, she still got a certificate to say that she had climbed the horse. No pictures on the big rocking horse, so we took one on the little rocking horse :)

After visiting the rocking horse, we stopped in Hahndorf, which is a German town, for a German lunch at the Hahndorf Inn. Best apple strudel I've had :)

Check out my wedding nails :) My sister booked us an appointment at her regular nail place and I got this idea from one of the articles she posted on our Facebook group for her wedding :) Hannah got hers done too, and she definitely enjoyed it.

The wedding festivities started on 2 January with a small luncheon at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown called Ming's Palace. The food was delicious. Here we are with the bride and groom and my cousin's daughter Ellie.

And then it was the big day! Here we are all dolled up. My dress was made by my mother's friend Joy, who made all the bridesmaid dresses, and she did it in an amazing 3 days because I was only measured when I arrived. Hannah wore a new white dress with a matching purple sash also made by Joy.

My sister the beautiful bride:

The wedding was held at St Paul of the Cross. Here we are with Adeline and Robert at the church after the ceremony:

Before dinner:

The wedding reception was held at St Francis Winery and my sister did a pretty good job with the decorations. The venue looked really beautiful:

And there was these big letters set up on the lawn for the bridal party and guests to take photos. I thought this was a pretty cute idea :)

After all the wedding celebrations were over, it was almost time to go home. Hannah enjoyed her last ice cream in Adelaide the night before we left to come back. Love that look on her face :)

Here we are at Adelaide airport. It was a fun trip and we look forward to coming again!

Another new hairstyle

Over the weekend, we took Hannah to cut her hair since the last time her hair was cut was in March last year. Now that she has started school, it is quite a battle early in the morning to tie her hair as she dislikes tying it up, so Hubby said might as well cut it short and save the hassle.

So anyway, we happened to be at Queensbay Mall so we decided to cut her hair at one of the salons there. The first one that we asked said that the price to cut her hair would be RM48.00. That was way too much money to pay for a little girl's hair cut so we declined politely and walked away.

We asked at another shop and they told us RM15.00 only. That was pretty reasonable so we sat her down and the hair stylist put the cloth over her. She seemed to enjoy it and the stylist gave her a nice modern cut and even blow dryed her hair (why is it at home she doesn't want to let me blow dry her hair I wonder :p)

This was her first time cutting her hair at a professional hair salon. Usually her Ah Mah will DIY at home or take her to her own hairdresser.

He did a pretty good job with her hair and this is the finished look:

New look for the new year :)

New year, new beginnings

2012 was an eventful year for us with the arrival of little Heidi and amidst all the busyness, the year has just whizzed by. It's already 2013 and Hannah has started kindy! I never thought this day would come and it has indeed. Yesterday was her first day and we had started prepping her for it months in advance so that she would not be afraid. The night before, I packed her little backpack and water bottle all ready for the next morning.

The backpack was a gift for her birthday this year from Sue and I actually got the water bottle almost two years ago in Singapore. I thought it was pretty cute and there was no need to stick her name anywhere on the bottle since it already has her name on it :) Recently I saw that they were also selling it in Borders bookshop at Queensbay Mall, and it can be custom made in the event that they did not have your name.

The next morning, I was awake at 6 am (I think I was more excited than Hannah) and I made her favourite cheese toast for her breakfast. Both Hubby and me had the day off, so after dropping Heidi at my in-law's place, we headed to school. Hannah adapted very well as soon as she entered the classroom and we did not see any signs of teary eyes, so after a while, we told her we were leaving but would be back to pick her up when school ended. She waved goodbye to us and continued with whatever she was doing.

After running some errands, we were back to pick her and she seemed quite happy. She did not tell us much about what happened in school, but after some prompting (I had a lot of questions!), she started telling us about her morning.

Yesterday night, however, I was quite surprised to see her keeping away her own toys after playing. Usually I have to pick up after her, but she kept them away herself yesterday with no fuss. She even asked me politely, "Mummy, can you help me keep the toys?" and thereafter she also asked me to sing the "keeping toys" song. I realised that it was her teacher who had taught them that, so I must say it was quite a successful first day. Hopefully she keeps it up!

Wishing everyone a very happy and blessed 2013 from all 4 of us!

Welcoming 2011

This New Year, we celebrated among ourselves with a small family dinner at Everyday Supreme Restaurant (Tian Tian as it is more well-known).



We were there with my parents-in-law:



And my sister-in-law with her two daughters.



The food there is excellent. We had (from left clockwise) sweet and sour pork, asparagus with sambal, homemade tofu, and onion fried chicken.



This is one of their specialty dishes: curry fish or prawn with bread - very delicious.



For dessert we had honeydew sago and wor peng (Chinese pancake). The pancake usually comes with peanut soup, but since none of us likes peanut soup, we substituted it for the honeydew sago which was very refreshing and not too sweet. I forgot to take a photo of the pancake until it was almost finished!



Hannah had fun too, running around the restaurant. We had to each grab her to take a picture with us :)



She also enjoyed her food and she was busy eating her "ko-kruch" (Koko Krunch) before the meal started. I always bring snacks in my bag to keep her occupied as she gets restless if she has to wait too long. She insisted on using the fork and spoon to eat her Koko Krunch.





And one for Daddy:



After she had her rice and tofu and chicken, she spent the time exploring the restaurant.



And running up and down together with her cousin. The picture is blur as she was indeed running very fast!



The next day, we went to Queensbay Mall for lunch. On our last few trips there, we never managed to get Hannah any free balloons that we saw people carrying around. So this time we went to the one place where we knew that we could get her a balloon - TGIF! :)

And she not only got one balloon, she got three! She was busy trying to hold all of them together (one more was on the chair).



She has also recently got into this cute habit of folding her arms so her Daddy says she looks like a little "taukeh" (boss). So now whenever he says "taukeh!" she folds her arms like this:



Hannah seems to like to always feed Daddy:



Her kids' meal of fish and chips was free with any adult main dish.



Happy new year 2011! Big smile from Daddy and a "half" smile from Hannah :)