Three years and counting

It’s almost the end of the work week and I’m glad. Work hasn’t been too bad, but there’s a sense of dissatisfaction and lack of motivation. Some days I think I should find another job, other days I enjoy learning new things and gaining knowledge. Some days I think I’m lucky that work is relatively stress free and allows me flexible work line balance, other days I feel sad that I’m not challenged at work and my skills/experience are not utilised and wasted.

Some days I just want to stay at home with the kids and pull the covers over my head. Most days I’m glad to head out to work, to feel a sense of purpose besides being a mummy.

The kids have settled well back home and are revelling in having a normal schedule and home cooked food again. They’ve grown up so much during this trip, I have to admit Saitaomei is no longer a baby and Saitaoha has left toddlerhood and is a bright little girl now.

In a week Saitaoha will be three. So I will have been a mother for three years, wow. So much sweat, blood, tears and joy throughout these years. Time flew and time crawled.

Love her to pieces, my spoilt, sweet and bright little girl.

Love my mischievous, cool and determined Mei mei.

Damai beach resort

We are back from our staycation at Damai beach resort. The resort is exactly the same as it was last year, dilapidated and in need of refurbishment. Even the buffet fare was exactly the same as last year’s haha. Despite the lacking condition of the rooms and facilities, we still had a great time, especially the kids.

Saitaomei loved the pool as expected. She has no fear that child, whereas Saitaoha was more cautious at that age and still is now.

Saitaoha enjoyed the pool a lot this time as well. But I think she’s too old for floats now so I will buy her arm bands and sign her up for swimming lessons when we are back.

Both kids had fun playing with their beach toys which their kuku and kuzhang bought for them.

She was a bit puzzled with the sandy beach but soon got the hang of it.

Papa and his baby on the beach.

Saitaoha was so happy to be with everyone, she’s a social butterfly this girl.

We wanted Saitaoha to be the mermaid but both kids refused to be buried in sand.

Guess who had to be the merman instead HAHAHAHA

Card games at night were lots of fun. It was especially fun watching the parents in law play, father in law would give a little chuckle every time he was about to win.

Mei mei and Gong Gong at breakfast buffet. We usually spent a long time at breakfast, R and his sister can really eat! And they’re still so skinny, so unfair.

Their laksa was flavourful and a favourite of R’s every morning.

Whereas I had nasi lemak everyday, very shiok.

Seafood dinner which was very yummy.

Happy kids 😃= fun staycation.

We are back from the resort now, I’m not sure about R but I felt a little sad when we were leaving because it feels like our holiday is coming to an end.

大年初一

Totally failed attempt of trying to get a nice photo of my babies in their pretty twinning outfits. It’s almost impossible to get good shots of these moving targets.

Much better shot! But why isn’t mummy in the picture ? Why aren’t mummies ever in pictures?

Asked Saitaoha to smile and this is the grin she gives me 🙂

The kids discover the joy of CNY snacking early in life.

She really really liked all the snacking, even figured how to open the lids by herself.

The focus of this picture is the giant prawn cracker in her hand. She had many many crackers today.

It’s nice to see Saitaoha having fun with R’s siblings and the in laws. I’ve been luckier in life in that my kids get to spend a lot of time with my family, so these festive occasions are fantastic for the kids to bond with R’s family.

She is the funniest kid, rushing upstairs to place her angpaos carefully in the left side of the drawer, she even helps mei mei to store hers on the right corner.

There was so much food. My stomach is hurting from the overeating so I’m going to go on a detox tomorrow. I’m also suffering from a cough, yucks.

Ok I might still have some prawn crackers with achar, my favourite combination.

Look at that hopeful girl!

I’m glad we found some time to visit my parents and mah mah today. I think the kids are missing Gung Gung Mah Mah a bit, Saitaoha didn’t want to go home.

新年快乐

Woo hoo! Happy Chinese New Year! Here’s wishing the piggy year is kind to me, with an abundance of good health and good luck for my loved ones.

Earlier in the night Saitaoha was watching my father in law hang up fire crackers. She didn’t like it much and found it too loud, but she seemed to enjoy the midnight session with the pretty fireworks.

Can’t say the same for Saitaomei. She didn’t really cry loudly, but she was definitely scared and clung on to me for dear life. We watched the fireworks from afar and I covered her ears when the neighbourhood fired up with smoke and crackers at the stroke of midnight. In the end my little koala fell asleep in my arms and luckily seems to be sleeping through the noise.

Father in law really went all out for reunion dinner, everything was really delicious. It’s their tradition to eat again at midnight, so we had a second round *burp*

I am glad the girls are getting to celebrate Chinese New Year the traditional way. Hopefully they will be able to hang on to these precious customs and their heritage for a long time to come.

Kuching Day 1&2

Saitaoha and pink xiu xiu home bound a couple of days ago.

Even though it was a long day of travelling, both kids especially Saitaoha did very well. Saitaomei did get fussy now and then, but nothing terrible by baby standards.

She enjoyed the car ride at KLIA2. It is so good that airports are a lot more child friendly nowadays. She wasn’t happy when we reached home though, but I wasn’t surprised because I knew she’s at the stranger anxiety stage and would be overwhelmed by the new surroundings and new people. Saitaoha on the other hand has flourished with age and is getting along really well with my in laws.

The next day we went to Yee An where Saitaoha enjoyed a milo peng.

Sarawak laksa for R which he enjoyed a lot.

I had the usual kampua mee and it was pretty good. I knew this trip wouldn’t be a foodie one because R’s family aren’t good crazy like us, so luckily I have no cravings to fulfil this time.

Father in law cooks dinner for us every night. His over feeding zealousness seems to have tamed down, and I am thankful that someone else is cooking and cleaning for a change. Mother in law won’t let me touch the dishes! It feels like a real break.

They were so kind to celebrate my birthday for me too. This cheesecake was quite delicious and we’ve been eating it for the past few days.

How cute is my little Saitaomei? I really wanted them to have the CNY experience of playing with sparkles.

Saitaoha was a bit apprehensive but I think she still enjoyed herself.

They enjoyed dancing in the smoke more than playing with the sparklers 😅.

Second day breakfast was this pork mince noodles soup which had an half an hour wait but was very tasty.

Saitaoha with her aunty and uncle. She took to them like fish to water and had a great time playing with them. She is missing her yee yees and cousins though and has been asking when they’re coming.

Shopping at Aeon mall was fun even though it took us ages to find parking. The whole world is out doing last minute CNY shopping.

We had an early reunion dinner at my grandmother’s place, but I didn’t even get to see her because she was sleeping. She seems to be sleeping a lot sigh.

The first two days have been a blast!

Birthday

I’m rushing to blog about today before the clock strikes midnight in 15 minutes and my birthday is over.

I realised it was my birthday around 2am and gave my sleeping Saitaomei a kiss on the forehead. My daughters are the best gifts for me, and how nice it was to spend the first hours of my birthday with my baby.

I was pottering around the kitchen when I noticed a box and a card on our dining table. My present from R! A custom designed keep Cup for the coffee addict. I love it! I’ve been wanting to get a keep cup for ages but was lamenting to R that they’re all either really ugly or ridiculously overpriced. So he custom designed a pastel coloured one for me :).

Jo was so lovely to bring me and the kids out for shopping at Carousel. The kids had a great time and so did I.

We over indulged in a very Malaysian brunch but hey, that’s what birthdays are for right? It was all rather yummy and felt like a treat.

Hahaha. Caption this photo.

She loves being in the driver’s seat, she made her own vroom vroom sounds, shooo cute.

This two have a hilarious love hate relationship. When they’re together they are always squabbling, but when they’re not together, they’re always asking for each other 🤷🏻‍♀️.

We had Mexican for dinner, delicious and easy. Tristan was the cutest kid, he said ‘this is a good choice for a restaurant yee yee’. Why thank you my dear nephew.

Saitaomei having lots of fun with her yee yee.

Then it was cake time but no decent photos because my daughters’ eyes were all on the cake! They take after me my foodie girls.

It’s my niece’s birthday today and she seems to have had a great time in Singapore. The funny girl has been sending me photos of these celebrity ambassador displays. They were laughing at my new hobby of watching K dramas, at first it was just displays of Korean actors but now its morphed into something more 😂. May we continue celebrating our birthdays feeling loved and spoiled by our loved ones dear LG.

It was such a lovely and fun filled birthday which now I’m paying for because I’m doing such last minute packing for our early flight out tomorrow! I so wish I could pack my sister and nephew with us SIGH. But I shall buy them many treats to make up for it.

Throughout the day I kept getting birthday messages from my nearest and dearest. I switched off my birthday notification on Facebook a few years ago because I didn’t see much meaning in getting messages of ‘hb’ from acquaintances. So if someone messages me now, I know they somehow remembered my birthday and bothered to make an effort to send me a birthday wish.

I felt so touched and happy, because the messages I received were from special people who are so close to my heart. Some of us haven’t been in contact for years, but they’ve always been in my thoughts, and I guess, I’ve been in their thoughts too. My heart felt so warm and fuzzy because it felt so nice to know that the people I love and hold a special place in my heart, remember me and are thinking of me too.

Happy birthday to me, and hopefully many more happy days to come.