Where did the time go?

I have considered giving up this blog because I thought there was nothing much to say now that we are home. In fact, I've not entered it at all since my last post. However, I've been thinking about picking up where I left off et viola! I am back again and hopefully this time around, the pauses won't be so stark.

I can't believe it myself but the end of they year is nearing too quickly and I STILL haven't achieved world peace! :)...

Work and Leisure

I had a work trip the last few days but I just couldn't bear to leave the little ones behind so I brought the whole family along to keep me company.  Though it was great that the kiddies were with me, I must admit, I won't be bringing them again on work trips for a very looooooong time. I just thought it was quite stressful with their demands that Maman goes swimming with them. However, I love them to bits and I hope they enjoyed their limited fun time with Maman...

We Meet Again

A few years ago, I discovered Facebook and found a few of my friends from school with whom I spent a substantial amount of time with.  However, when we all left for further education, literally everyone went their separate ways and on my part, I gradually lost touch with everyone I was close with at one time.  There were a few meetings by chance here and there but not anyone I know really made much effort to meet up  and reminisce.  

I did however managed to meet briefly with my then best friend a few years back when she came back from skiing and was passing through Geneva.  It turned out to be great and my only regret then was the lack of time.

A few days ago, I had some work to attend to in the region and again by chance, my friend was holidaying in the same place as I was and we decided to meet up again.  Another friend heard about the mini reunion and also decided to fly out to the same place to meet up.

So for the past two days, I ha

ve spent time with 2 girls I went to school with and caught up on 20 years worth of stories.  Actually, I think we mostly talked about our school days most of the time but it was okay.  We had a great laugh and really lost track of time.  Yes, again we were limited by time.  

I had such a bomb spending time with the girls that I have decided to have another reunion in the not too distant future and the 3 of us are going to converge in yet another place and I'm sure we will never find enough time to catch up. 

I love you guys and I can't wait to see you again!

Beach Bums

As my kids were mostly brought up in Switzerland, they have never been to the seaside.  Thus being in a tropical country with beaches, we decided it was high time they see what a beach looks like.

Unfortunately our beaches are not as nice as some in this region and even though we've been away for a while, the amount of trash floating about is still plentiful which unfortunately means that our people have not learnt the meaning of preserving the environment...

I Love Shopping

We went grocery shopping yesterday and somehow I still can't get over the fact that things here are much more fun to purchase than in Swiss supermarkets.  I found myself some hard to come by detergent for front loading washing machines.  The difficulty in finding this particular item comes from the fact that front loaders are not generally too popular in this country and unfortunately, that's the only washing machine I have and love.

Whilst browsing through the cold section looking for double cream, I found myself another gem in the form of stringy cheese.  Yes!  Stringy cheese!  From Australia but hey, I can't complain because I used to bug Paris to get some for us whenever she went to blighty for her weekends.  Of course she never brought any back.  The ardent interest in the cheese was not actually to taste it but to just see what stringy cheese is.  This is what you call the effects of commercials on British TV channels.  Yes, I am a true consumer I'm afraid.  My verdict on the cheese?  Put it this way, the tasteless rubber texture of the cheese is probably the reason why they named the product stringy cheese so Paris, don't bother trying it...

Mommy's Supposed Day Off

Apparently people here celebrate the American mother's day more.  It's apparent in the blatant commercialisation of the day on tv, news and any media which supports advertisement.  Hotels and almost all eating establishments offer mother's day packages and buffet lunches.  As tempting as it sounds, I am a boring person and I stopped celebrating these 'special days' years ago.  Plus the husband who is currently attached to me has high moral principals on pampering his wifey on these occasions.  Not that I get flowers everyday mind you...

Thus we ended up forcing Papa to cook us a spaghetti lunch which was actually turned out to be a very tasty one.  The rest of the day was spent with the kids when they were awake.  Curly had her joy ride on the scooter and was a little traumatised when she witnessed her Papa falling off his big motorbike.  She was so concerned about him, bless her heart...

We also prepared a little BBQ and planned to dine under the stars.  But before that, Papa and I took our respective two wheeled transportation for a spin and ended up at a friend's place down the road.  It was probably the first time for me to ride out that far on a 50cc scooter so imagine what it was like for me riding on the less than smooth road surface going over 60km.  It was scary but FUN!  However when we left, Papa had the misfortune of AGAIN tipping over the big bike and this time, it was a little bit more serious than the previous tipping over.  Thank god nothing was broken, bones wise and gate wise, but Papa's knee was seriously scraped and up till now, it's still bloody and unsightly.  At least he's alright.  If anything, his ego was more bruised than anything else.  The funny thing was that he wasn't even showing off!

Anyway, we got home okay and the kids were begging us for a swim under the moonlight.  We conceded defeat almost immediately even though Curly is just recovering from a bout of fever.  It's okay, we have a lot of very good medication for children.  Grandma was of course stressing over her home help.  I was trying to stay calm but it's really quite hard not to be affected by a very stressed mommy.  It seems Mother's day was turning a little sour.  But noooo.  The kids have a magical effect over loosening tension and Grandma calmed down as soon as we sat down to consume our BBQ ed meats.  

The meal turned out to be better than I thought it would be because both grandparents decided to join us dining alfresco.  It was a very, very warm night and I was sweating buckets and the mosquitos dining off our legs couldn't be happier but it was great.  We had an impromptu family night amidst the discomfort and the kids enjoyed eating out in the garden.

On another note, our restaurant owner friends celebrated their 5th year of their dining establishment today.  I can't believe it myself.  I left just under 5 years ago for Geneva and now I'm settling back home again and their restaurant is still growing stronger each day.  It felt like only yesterday we were consuming iced lime drinks in MJ...

Three Types Of Two Wheeled Transportation

It seems our children are also starting to get into the two-wheeled modes of transport very quickly...

Bikes Of Burden

Since the motorbike and the scooter saw a revival ever since we settled back home, my love for the scooter has been rekindled but now I would like to trade my 50cc scooter for a newer, faster model. Hopefully a bright yellow Vespa. Hint everyone...

Ho Hum..

Grandma has kidnapped the kids since morning, Papa has gone golfing (again!) and TV shows are not exactly exciting.  I'm bored senseless because there's noone to play with...

Another Cake Consumed

We had grandad's birthday celebrations earlier this evening and the venue of choice this time was at one of his current fave place, an Italian restaurant a couple of minutes drive away from TJ. All the grand kids and their parents attended the dinner. We even booked ourselves a 'private room' though I didn't think a room separated only by a wooden screen was private enough.  I shouldn't complain really. We had plenty of good pasta that made our bellies swell even more and the cappuccino was comparable to the Swiss ones I used to consume daily.

As you can see, the cake was the show stealer.  I loved the design and attention to details but I know that it's Paris who actually misses these types of cakes.  You know, the ones made with plenty of flour.  Oh Paris, it was really yummy...

Nose Job

I love spending time with the kids. They laugh so hard when they fool around with us.  This time it's all about noses.  

Time is so precious when they are this young so I will spend it with them as much as I can...

Nini Kadir

Nini Kadir is now the new glam name for their grandad TJ.  Apparently that was his nickname in his youth and the kids decided that they will call him that.  He doesn't seem to mind, in fact, he's quite indifferent.  Haha!

Today Nini Kadir celebrates his 66th birthday.  Yes, he is 66!  He does age well doesn't he. Anyway, we are not celebrating his birthday today.  He's attending a function I think.  Just as well really.  We will be doing so tomorrow evening at an Italian restaurant.  Looks set for fun because we will have all the grandchildren together.  I imagine a room full of kids running around.  Well, my kids really.  Haha!

Happy birthday Dad!...

Spot The Hidden Objects

Grandma TJ wanted to spend a lazy Sunday lunch with our family because when Grandpa goes away, we're her constant dining out companions.  We didn't turn it down because it was a good way to let the kids bond more with their grandparents.  Our choice of lunch was dim sum but we arrived too late so we didn't get to enjoy the sumptuous array of buffet.  It was okay because none of us were that hungry.  When the time came for the bill, we found out that the family on the next table had already settled it.  It was a very nice gesture because I didn't know them at all as they were really the grandparent's friends.

After lunch, we did a spot of shopping at the Mall and our first stop was the toy section.  I was actually on the hunt for water balloons but ended up looking at something else.  Grandma being grandma, she wanted to spoil the kids and bought them a great play thing.  The kids loved it so much that I had a tough time getting them out of it and into bed.  Even the ill Ernie is not letting his temperature bring him down.

Now spot two of these things that don't belong there...

The Last of The Birthday Parties

Even though Grandpa TJ and Auntie M weren't present, we decided to go ahead and have Ernie's birthday celebrations yesterday.  We had it out on the patio and as always, Grandma's organisation was spotless and the end presentation was a beautiful setting fit for kids and adults alike.  

We chose to have a BBQ night but with mom involved, there was sayur pucuk ubi and beras kabun served.  I only cooked my usual spaghetti bolognaise and even then, I made such a big fuss doing it.  So I took the easy way out and decided to buy most of the pies and cakes and it still didn't break my wallet.  Ah to have many choices in life is great...  Being the antithesis of a planner, I didn't cook enough spaghetti noodles and unsurprisingly, that was the first one to run out!  Yes, I really need my Paris to help me out in times like these... 

We had the sand pit and the kiddies bouncer out for the little ones and I'm happy to say that both play things were fully utilised by the young AND the old!  Our engineer cousin even had a hand in building a sand castle in the sand pit which was inadvertently knocked over by overzealous little kiddies.  

Then the cake or should I say, cakes, arrived and that's where I lost track of how many times we sang happy birthday and blew out the candles.  When the guests left, we let Ernie open some of his pressies and Curly of course, "helped out".  When I say that, she was the one tearing away at the wrappers leaving Ernie to watch in amazement.

The little ones ran around all night covered in sweat, sand and cake.  Unfortunately, little Ernie has not been feeling very well this past week and last night, his temperature chose the moment to show up so he was a little grumpy most of the time.  He did brighten up when the birthday song was sang over and over again.  All in all I think everyone had a good time, most especially the kiddies...

Longing

I was going through my collection of pictures and found this one to use as my screensaver.  As soon as it was displayed, I felt a pang of longing.  Longing to go back to my former home we fondly named Chancy Tavern.  

This picture was taken on the last night we went to CT to clear out the rest of the house.  I remember feeling sad that I wouldn't live there anymore and now I feel very much wanting to go back to that house.  We lived there for four and a half years and in each day of those years hold so much fond memories.  From the wild (for Geneva) parties we had there to the day we brought our two bundles of joy to live with us and to be honest, Curly and Ernie were the reason why we love CT to this very day...

Baby Steps To Heaven

Curly and Ernie have been ardent followers of Grandma TJ praying of late and these days, Curly thinks she is an expert in prayers that she is now showing us how she does it.  Granted the steps are a little topsy turvy but it is heart warming to see your little girl telling her Grandma to shush when she's praying.  Haha!

Another Cake

It wasn't enough that we had a cake for little Ernie at lunch yesterday so we had another candle blowing ceremony after dinner.  Well, I like to spoil my kids you know...  Anyway, Curly as usual has to be the centre of attention and needless to say when we refused to let her blow the candle on her brother's cake, she was miffed.  She only stopped wailing when we conceded defeat and let her join in the glory.  Bless his heart, Ernie was oblivious to the whole drama scene and he happily let his sister take over the reigns.  Poor thing...  

Anyway, it must be all the heavy partying which we did yesterday because today Ernie has come down with a temperature.  I better let him rest for the finale party this weekend as there will be plenty of running around and consumption of sweet treats involved...