Popcorn mei mei

Promised the kids that I would bring them to the playground if the sun had not set by the time they finished dinner. We just about made it! They had a lovely time except Saitaomei didn’t want to leave 😅

I wanted to prolong our Saturday night out so we went to our neighbourhood cafe for coffee and cake. Saitaomei was delighted with the sudden treat and walloped her snacks with delight.

Work must be pretty dreadful nowadays because I’m already sad that the weekend is almost over and it’s only Saturday night!

Saitaoha constantly amuses me with her funny chatter.

👩🏻: Saitaoha what do you want to be when you grow up?

🧒🏻： what do you mean mummy?

👩🏻: like what is Papa’s job?

🧒🏻: ******* (answers accurately)

👩🏻: you’re right! So do you want to be a ******* like papa when you grow up?

🧒🏻: no! I want to be a princess !

👩🏻: (alamak 😅) oh ok, how about mummy?

🧒🏻: mummy is a chef!

👩🏻: hahaha ok ok not bad, I don’t mind being a chef. How about mei mei?

🧒🏻: Mei mei is a popcorn!

👩🏻: 😂😂😂

The week that was

You girls light up my life.

Chicken rice Sunday family dinners. I like cooking for the family but I don’t like messing up my mother’s kitchen.

I love Woolies for their free fresh fruit for kids. It’s such a great intiative, Coles tries but isn’t consistent.

My Saitaoha packs a pretty picnic lunch. She is actually really meticulous in her planning and how everything looks and is categorised. Why am I not more like my child?

Saitaomei for Movember challenge?

Friday red wine and red meat nights. We’ve been doing these for a few weeks now and it’s nice to unwind with the husband in anticipation of the weekend ahead.

And hooray the weekend rolls around again!

One year on

I just ordered Saitaomei’s birthday cake for her upcoming birthday party! I am not telling my friends that it’s to celebrate her second birthday but am calling it a gathering instead. I’m hoping they don’t find out, R and I don’t want our friends to buy any presents for the kids, we just want to celebrate Saitaomei with our closed ones.

I’m having fun planning the decorations and food for the party. R asked me how come I’m throwing a party for Saitaomei when I didn’t throw one for Saitaoha’s second or third birthday. I told him it is because I remember how tough it was to plan and prepare for Saitaomei’s first birthday last year. My health was so poorly and I was in so much pain before and after her first birthday. At that time I had taken extended sick leave because I was in so much pain that I couldn’t function at work, I remember having to prep a dish a day, then going back to lie down after every cook. During the day of the party, I took a plethora of drugs to numb the pain and that was how I survived the day. Even then, my mother and siblings had to help out so much, poor ah ma was in so much pain after the party and was thoroughly exhausted. We also broke the oven that day 😅.

It makes me all the more grateful that one year on, I am fully recovered, no longer in pain and well and able to plan for Saitaomei’s party.

So yes, it’s not just a party to celebrate my dear baby’s second birthday but also to celebrate my recovery and thank my loved ones for their care and support throughout the darkest period of my life. That is something worth celebrating right ?

Post holiday blues

I haven’t had time to blog about the rest of the trip. After the initial euphoria from returning home, we have been busy unpacking, packing winter clothes and sleeping! The weather in Perth is so nice for sleeping in, the kids and I have been building up our sleep quota.

The kids finally have real beds and have upgraded from their cots. So far they seem to be loving it and it’s nice for all of us to be in the same room again. I’m also enjoying not sharing the same bed with Saitaomei, she’s no longer sleeping ON me at night, this also explains the longer sleeping hours.

Throwback to the holiday, I think this was a highlight for the kids, they enjoyed the indoor playground so much that we went twice.

That look of delight on her face as she went down the slides.

Mei enjoyed diving into the ball pit the most.

Traditional 枕头粽子 pillow rice dumplings made by one of the relatives. It was really delicious and filled to the brim with yummy ingredients like peanuts, chestnuts and pork, umm so good 😊.

I always thought the name of my childhood favourite pastry was longkoh, I only found out it actually means egg cake 蛋糕 in foochow, oops.

Papa and Saitaoha at the wedding. We didn’t take any photos at all because we were so busy helping with the logistics.

Sister in law and new brother in law 🥰.

This little terror was cranky at the beginning of the wedding but soon loosened up and started having fun towards the end.

Hehe silly cousins. Despite all the squabbling, they had a lot of fun together this holiday.

I had tomato mee for one of my breakfasts, it was a bit watery but a nice change.

Saitaomei really likes Kuching food, she ate loads of kampua and kolo mee this trip.

Sigh I’m really sad that the holiday is over, I have been so grumpy the past couple of days which I think stems from post holiday blues. Luckily Christmas is around the corner and we are heading back again for Chinese New Year.

It was a lovely trip with the highlight for me being the Singapore leg and hanging out with my parents and sister and the kids. The countdown begins for the next holiday!

Wedding woes

Attending a family wedding with two toddlers in tow sure ain’t easy. Just go to the wedding, enjoy an eight course banquet then go home right? But that isn’t the case when you’re part of the bridal party and have to help out with the planning and logistics of a wedding.

There’s the to and fro of many airport pickups and drop offs, the entertaining, wining and dining of overseas guests and relatives. And it becomes even more complex and complicated once your family home also opens up to become accomodation for said relatives. It’s a joyous occasion and a great reason for a family reunion, but when you throw two kids in the mix, ones that are not used to the hot tropical weather and the under 2 who has stranger anxiety, it does become a tad stressful.

Once again it goes to show how it takes a village to raise a family and how my parents are super grandparents. They’ve taken over the parenting of the kids to spare them the stress of overwhelming relatives and wedding chaos. R and I are able to focus on helping out my very stressed mother in law and sister in law (the bride). But at what expense?

I felt so bad when I saw ah ma looking so tired today. I’ve always been extra lucky to have parents that I can always count on, but I just wish I could be more self sufficient and less reliant on my long suffering parents. 😔.

Goodbye Singapore Hello Kuching

Last full day in Singapore. View of Orchard Road from the Orchard Central gallery.

Even though I already had my daily dose of kopi, I couldn’t resist a second shot for the last day. It was a hot day though so I had kopi ais, good but not as satisfying as a hot mug of kopi.

The kids had fun at the outdoor playground at the Food Republic at 313 Somerset. It’s mostly quite empty which is probably not good for business but great for us. I hate waiting to chope tables during peak hours which in Orchard Road sometimes feels like forever.

Ah ma knows me best. She got me a takeaway cup of kopi from Yakun before we set off to the airport. It was legit good kopi.

I really love these strollers at Changi, I also like the kid friendly corners at various spots of Changi. I am always impressed and appreciate the effort that goes into the planning of Changi’s terminals design. It really is a top notch airport.

Silly cousins. They’ve bickered,fought, made up and mostly played well together this holiday.

Whereas this little ball of terror showed her age 😅.

Love the heritage zone celebrating Peranakan culture, so beautiful.

Seafood dinner at Top spot with the must order local midin. I am sure every family has their go-to seafood restaurant in Kuching, for our family, it’s always Top Spot and we’ve been going there for many many years. Back in those days my grandparents were still well and healthy, they could indulge in great plates of crab and steamed fish. Sigh. Those were the good days.

The crabs were really for my sister who is a huge crab lover. We always think of her when we are eating crabs or see crab on the menu. But we never eat crabs in Perth because they are so expensive and not even that good!

This is one satisfied customer. She enjoyed dinner so much we are going back for more crab tonight!

The size of the prawns put our so called king prawns in Perth to shame. So delicious lightly grilled.

This foodie enjoyed her food a lot and we pretty much had to pry the bowl of rice away from her. She’s a 饭桶!

Our parents got up early and went to Jin Fu Ling to pick up our pre order of popiah. We are spoilt kids lah.

I haven’t had these yet but the chai kueh look good! My sister can probably demolish ten at a go, or 20?

Jeje getting a trim at the neighbourhood salon while mei mei watches on. The trim cost RM2! I had to ask ‘huh? 多少?’ when she mentioned the price. It costs her $10 to trim her fringe in Perth and that’s already the cheapest option.

Can do for RM2?

Mei mei so hot and bothered. She’s wiltering in the heat.

Posers at Kenyalang who were happy to score their loot of old school snacks.

Singapore family trip

Who is my favourite person?

Gung Gung of course!

This Saitaomei is fearless in the water and seems to be a natural swimmer, kicking strong and no qualms dunking her entire head in the water. Saitaoha required coaxing and was nervous without us accompanying her which tells me they both need swimming lessons.

Swimming every morning has been the highlight of this vacation especially for the kids. Saitaoha told me this was her favourite part of the holiday and that she wanted to tell me a story about swimming tonight (she makes up her own bedtime stories which usually revolve around her daytime activities).

Only a small part of our Don Don Donki dinner during our first night. It was fun sharing sashimi bowls with my mum and sister. Even though we’ve had a few stressful moments (usually to do with my naughty two) I feel we’ve managed to get through with mostly good grace and humour.

Eagerly awaiting my Toastbox kopi this morning.

Sooo good. I love Toastbox kopis.

My crusty polo bao was good too.

Her smile of pain, I think this will be the last pain she puts on clip on earrings! I’m thinking I should get her ears pierced next year? Or is that too early?

Much needed roadside icecream cart bread icecream. We were a bit cranky and hot from walking along Orchard Road but this delicious jagung icecream cooled us down.

Tried the hyped up Tiger brown sugar milk which was pretty good I thought. No lines at all!

Normally I’m not a fan of DTF but the kids ate so well there, food was light and tasty.

My parents are the reason why this Singapore break could happen. I was being my usual penny pinching self and reluctant to spend extra money.Ah ma pretty much booked the tickets and hotel and convinced me that I needed to have this stopover. No regrets at all! It has been so fun hanging out with my parents, sister and nephew. My parents have been sacrificing their shopping time and looking after the kids in the hotel to allow me to have my moments of freedom too. I’ve made the most of it by splurging and shopping happily.

The kids are having a lovely trip and I’ve enjoyed myself so much too. We fly back to Kuching tomorrow but the warm memories of this Singapore trip will be sketched in my heart (and hopefully the kids’ hearts) forever.