A day of seafood shopping with my sister, baking cakes for our Christmas dessert tomorrow, last minute Santa letter writing and present wrapping … it’s been a full on day (and very hot 42 degrees day) but lots of fun!
Should be lots of family and feasting tomorrow woo hoo. I’m just hoping my pork roast has a good crackling!
My first week of holidays has been a blast so far! Maybe it’s because I’ve had such a busy year, I am really relishing the time spent with my girls and family.
On Monday Saitaoha and I headed into Fremantle to meet a dear friend for lunch and also hang out at my sister’s office. She was so happy to have mummy Saitaoha bonding time.
I let her choose the cafe for breakfast and she ended up picking Duck Duck Bruce which was a winner with great vibes and lovely service. Her kid’s breakfast was delicious with soft scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. She ate it all too so I was very pleased.
The cafe had a little garden and small watering cans for the kids.
Saitaoha enjoyed her hot chocolate with a little duck biscuit and marshmallow.
I didn’t have breakfast but had a nice coffee instead.
After breakfast we walked to the Esplanade where Saitaoha had great fun at the playground. She can climb up so high now, it’s so scary to watch but I know I can’t be a helicopter parent forever.
Don’t grow up too fast my Saitaoha ❤️
We visited the fairy shop which she loved. She coloured some drawings in there and picked out a wand for herself, mei mei and her cousins.
I think we were the first patrons of my sister’s workplace family room!
She enjoyed piecing the mat together and also took it apart later and placed them back in their box.
Time for lunch and catching up with my best friend. We were just about to tuck in when she said ‘ I see C*****’ (my close workmate) I thought she was kidding but he really walked into our cafe, complete in holiday mode, unbuttoned shirt, shorts and sandals. We were both so shocked we burst out laughing in disbelief, what are the odds of us meeting in the same cafe so far from where we live, during our day offs. We even joked that we couldn’t eat lunch together or it would feel too much like work.
A day out with mummy is not complete without gelato for afternoon tea.
It’s been a long long time since Saitaoha and I have had a full day mummy Saitaoha day out and we both enjoyed it very much!
Today we had a painting activity outdoors.
Saitaomei enjoyed herself tremendously and even managed to stay relatively clean.
Happy child with her roast duck noodles. Another fun day and tomorrow should be great too because papa has the day off!
Yeah! It’s the start of my 3 week Christmas/New year break and so far it’s been great. We had a nice team lunch on the last day of work and even received presents from the boss. He wrote me a very lovely card and really ended my work year on a high. It’s nice to feel appreciated :), I hope the rest of my team felt it too and enjoy their well deserved break as well.
The kids have had three weeks of swimming lessons and while Saitaoha had a rocky start, she is much more confident now, even smiling and having fun in the pool. I am not worried about Saitaomei at all, she’s a little fish and just like me, she loves being in the water. I love the idea of being able to go swimming with my girls in the future and am glad my mum nagged me constantly to sign them up for lessons. My ah ma is a very good influence on me and is always giving me tips and reminders on how to be a better parent.
We then celebrated my nephew’s 8th birthday, I hope he had a nice time and felt loved. We were hopelessly lost going to the restaurant and I was stressing out about my parents stressing out. I’m really quite useless when it comes to directions and maps, but we managed to get there phew! I feel so bad for making my father stress out though, sigh I should get better at driving but I’m so terrible.
The kids will have a Christmas celebration this year, I am preparing a letter and presents from Santa for a change. They are not little forever so I know I should build them great memories whilst I can.
Today we were gardening in my ah pa’s house. The kids were cycling in the back yard, fed dinner by my ah ma, helping Gung Gung to garden and just generally having a lovely time. I love that backyard and the garden with my ah pa’s fruits of labour. It always strikes me now and then but I just thought again ‘my kids are having the best childhood’. They are so lucky to have their Gung Gung Mah Mah with them, growing up and taking care of them. R and I really have it great with my parents living so close by. I like being able to walk over every now and then, giving and receiving food, having meals together, it’s just all so lovely and I am really not taking it for granted.
I visited my friend who is now a widow and her two children last night. She is so heartbroken and so are her kids, he was taken away so suddenly and was so young, he leaves behind a family that just had their core ripped away from them and they must feel so hollow and so lonely.
I’m going to keep on visiting. I know we will never be able to fill even an inch of the void but I want to help where I can.
I’m going to make the most of my holidays and really hang out with the kids before next year’s madness strikes again. I almost don’t want Christmas to come because I don’t want holidays to end! The start of holidays is always the best feeling and I’m really feeling it this weekend 🙂 Happy holidays folks!
I’ve been very lucky in that my life so far has been fairly untouched by the passing of loved ones. That is until this year. My mah mah passed away earlier this year, and we were unable to go back for her funeral due to COVID. A secondary school classmate passed away from breast cancer. A colleague committed suicide. Today, I attended my second funeral in Perth. The first funeral being a few years back, the father of a close friend. Today, it was the tragic passing of a friend, a sudden death, so utterly cruel in that he leaves behind young kids and a grieving wife.
We haven’t been friends for very long, maybe a year and a bit? But R and I both felt an affinity and had great affection for the husband and wife couple. Perhaps we could relate to our similar Asian migrant backgrounds, trying to settle in a foreign country, trying to build a life together and for our kids. He was gentle, shy, humble, very intelligent and had a wonderful sense of humour. His wife and I bonded because we both work in the same sector, we have similar challenges, we met their kids last Christmas and they were really lovely, happy kids. I was looking forward to meeting them again this Christmas.
It was incredibly heartwrenching to see their broken shells this morning, his older daughter in particular, I could tell, her childhood is now dashed and she has grown up overnight. She was angry, in despair and heartbroken. When the funeral service ended, we were all huddling in the back room, waiting for the family, suddenly, the young daughter’s heartwrenching and painful wails echoed and vibrated throughout the room. There was not a dry eye in the room. At that moment I cursed the gods to be. Why him. Why this sweet, lovely man who wouldn’t harm a fly. He struggled and persevered to come to Australia, his hard work and efforts paid off, just two weeks ago, his last talk to us was about how he had a dream. A dream to come to Australia, to have a wife and kids, a good job, a home, and all his dreams came through. How could they take that away from him. How could they take him away from his family.
It makes me so angry that there are families torn apart by loss and death everywhere, and yet there are those that don’t appreciate their families even though they are right by their side. I feel like shaking these selfish bastards and screaming WAKE UP! WAKE UP! Don’t regret when you’ve lost them forever.
So today I spent a longer time talking to my parents. Hugging my girls. Holding R’s hand. If one day I leave this world, I want their lasting memories of me to be that I love them so so much and appreciate them every single day.
Rest in peace N. I promise I will be a supportive friend to your wife and kids. Thank you for being so inspirational, for sharing your stories and for the laughs that you brought us. Whilst our friendship was cut short, I will forever be grateful to have met you.
daitaoha 