Big days align : Saitaoha goes to primary school and birthdays

31 January 2022. A big day for all of us. Saitaoha enters primary school and is a Year 1 primary student! Saitaomei has her first day at 4 year old kindy and also starts attending full days of school. My birthday and also LG’s birthday. My last year in the 30s bracket, gosh I’m old.

My beautiful eldest daughter, so ready for ‘big’ school, how did the years go by so quickly ? She was excited and happy to go to school. I hope her love for school continues throughout her primary school years.

I dressed Saitaomei in red since it’s Chinese New Year eve. She was also very happy to go to school and waved goodbye to me without nary a backward glance. My kids are super independent!

I’m glad I took the week off and could drop them off at school during such an important day. I haven’t been there for the kids as much as I should over the years with my parents carrying my load, I really hope I can do better in the coming years *fingers crossed*.

Simple pleasures for my birthday, a good cup of coffee was very satisfying.

I always feel a little sorry for my dear niece that she has to share a birthday with her fuddy duddy Aunty, but she’s always accepted our double celebration very graciously.

Such a heavy brunch of French toast and fried chicken. But it’s all my favourite things, French toast AND fried chicken with my favourite pickles too. All washed down with a lovely mug of coffee, heaven ah.

I love all the birthday presents I received this year. This was from my sister, my girls and LG have such a great bond as can be seen from the photos.

Jo is my trusty beauty product supplier, I noticed she slipped in an anti aging product this year, much needed thank you thank you.

Love the cards and pictures from my niece, nephew and kids. Chibi maruko chan is my favourite anime, maybe I should watch some episodes this holiday.

Reunion dinner has been postponed because it’s a school night. But ah ma still made my birthday chicken soup sua mee and egg, very delicious. My sister and bil got me one of my favourite cakes too and it was fun making birthday wishes and singing the birthday song with my family.

Even though I’m not the kind to want a fuss for my birthday, I do appreciate the celebration and the shower of love I receive from my family and friends. Every year on my birthday I receive heartfelt messages from my nearest and dearest, my uni mates, my ex housemates, my childhood friend, my close colleagues and my dear brother. We don’t message each other often, some are at other ends of the earth, but on this day they take the time to pencil words to me and we exchange our annual pleasantries. I’m reminded of our good days, our warm memories and it really makes me feel very blessed and lucky indeed.

It’s funny that our birthdays fall on 除夕夜 this year, but it was a great reason for us to gather together and share a warm family meal together.

Happy Year of the Tiger everyone, may the Tiger year bring us good health, good luck and an abundance of happiness.

The end of summer holidays

We made it home safe and sound. Another family vacation tucked away in our memories. I always feel worried when we are travelling, whether it’s by plane or car, maybe I’m just a worry wart, I worry that we won’t make it there and back safely, I worry about ah pa needing the toilet, I fear that the car/plane trip is too long and exhausting for the old folks and young kids. The list is endless.

During the car ride home we didn’t have a toilet stop, and I was worried my ah pa would be busting and too shy to tell us to stop. And then there was a slight traffic jam and I kept checking how long it would take us to get home. Luckily I was able to converse with my sister via whatsapp about my worries and it alleviated the stress I felt. ‘Thank god for technology’ I told her.

Truly only my siblings will understand my worries about my parents. The car was very low on petrol by the time we got home and I was anxious for R to top up the petrol immediately. He didn’t understand my anxiety and felt it was ok to go out later. What I didn’t tell him was I didn’t want to delay topping up the petrol because I was worried my ah pa would go and do it himself (which of course he did!) since my parents are quite kancheong spiders who get stuff done right away.

I was worried ah pa would run out of petrol mid drive and be stuck on the side of the road somewhere. Yet I didn’t have a problem with R being stranded haha, to be fair, I was planning to go with him so if we were stranded we would both have to figure a way out. In the end it all worked out and ah pa managed to top up the petrol and get home safely. See how I’m such a stress head ? I’m so glad people at work don’t see this side of me and think I’m calm at work!

When you’re young, your parents are constantly worried about you. When you grow old, you’re constantly worried about your parents. When you are a child, your parents clean up your poo and pee for you, when your parents grow old, you may have to clean up for them. Life is a beautiful cycle isn’t it? What your parents have sacrificed and done for you, you will willingly do the same for them when they grow old.

My parents brought us for many vacations and holidays when we were young. We were fortunate to have travelled to many countries by a young age, it’s a pity that I can now only bring my parents to holiday around WA! Ah well, maybe we will be able to travel further soon.

Busselton jetty

The kids grew up and matured over the school holiday.

Gung Gung asked Saitaomei to teach him how to swim 🏊‍♀️ and she took it very seriously. She now thinks she really taught him to swim and my sisters were teasing her and saying ‘Saitaomei can you teach me how to swim?’

🧒🏻: Sigh ok.. everybody needs me to teach them how to swim!

Both my girls were very upset that they lost the rings that their yee yee bought for them when they were playing at the playground. It was much too big for their little fingers and probably gone from the moment they slipped it on. At night, we had our nightly bedtime ‘Saitaomei and Saitaoha’ storytelling session, the stories are usually a recap of their day. I thought I would skip past the ‘losing of the rings part’ but to my surprise, Saitaomei interrupted my story halfway and added

🧒🏻: and then… Saitaomei and Saitaoha were very sad when they lost their rings and mummy was a bit angry. They cry and cry. They promised mummy that they would never do it again and mummy said she would buy them new rings!

(I was surprised at this creative addition!)

Saitaoha interjected: Mummy will never buy us new rings ! She never buys us toys !

Wah in the eyes of my daughter I am a total Scrooge who never buys them toys. 

Playing in the loft room

I think the kids had a really lovely holiday spending time with their cousins and family. I’m so glad they get along well with each other. I had such a good time too, I can’t remember a time when I could go swimming everyday, the highlight for me this holiday has got to be combing the sandy seabed for seashells with my sisters and R, it was so therapeutic and relaxing. I also don’t get to spend quality time with my sisters and we really did have a lot of fun together.

Matching rainbow towel shirts

This is the longest vacation that I’ve had in a long long while and one where I almost completely switched off from work. Life is so short and unpredictable that we should really make the most of it while we can and that includes having more family holidays with my parents.

The first home cooked meal when we got home. Cooking food for my family is my way of showing love and appreciation. And chicken rice is the ultimate soul food!

I still have another week of vacation to go and I’m planning to make the most of it and hopefully work my way down my to-do list. Let’s hope that includes some good cooking and baking :). Life is too short to eat bad food!

Day 3 Busselton jetty

Happy Australia Day says Saitaomei! Will we become full fledged Australians this year ? Will we feel differently when we sign up I wonder? I think so.

We had a touristy day today at the Busselton Jetty, tram ride and all.

I hope the kids enjoyed the tram ride and observatory, I wanted them to have a special experience to remember the holiday.

I think we will look back at this vacation fondly. I will always remember the Covid fears, a different kind of fear we had from two years ago when we were flying back from our Kuching trip. It’s been two years since we’ve been home and on aeroplanes. How two years have flown by and so much has happened since.

I think we are all looking forward to the old days again where our health isn’t constantly under threat and in jeopardy. But for now, I’m still thankful we managed to get away for this family trip and have been enjoying spending time together.

Day 2 of Busselton holiday

Ah pa, ah ma and their granddaughters

Love this picture of my parents and the girls at the Good Egg cafe.

All the grandkids this time !

Hehe my parents at the beach and actually in the water! A rare sight.

I am glad that I get a second chance in life to bond and go for holidays with my parents. The water was so clear we could see fishes!

Saitaoha had so much fun

Saitaomei loves picking seashells

Saitaoha showing off her seashell

They love the beach

Saitaomei was too cold after the beach so we headed to the heated pool to warm up. I feel like we were there for quite a while, racing with my sisters and R in the pool, playing with the kids, watching them swim, it was really fun.

There was a fun fair at the Busselton foreshore and we went for the bumper car ride! I’m glad Saitaoha got to ride on it with her papa, it was her first time and I could tell she had fun. Papa himself was having way too much fun at the bumper cars. He’s really enjoying his vacation too so I’m glad, he hardly ever gets days off work so I’m happy he’s getting quality time with his daughters.

Life with Covid

We went to the supermarket earlier to pick out our food for the bbq tomorrow. Somehow I think we might end up just cooking in the room instead of fighting for a bbq spot, but that’s ok too. So far our room meals have been enjoyable and relaxing.

Cousins

Saitaoha wants to go to the playground again tomorrow.

Day 2 of the holiday was super fun! Best of all is hearing the kids tell me that they’re having ‘the best day ever’ and mei saying it’s the best holiday ever. I guess we don’t really need to fly far away and that an aeroplane to have fun together. At the end of the day I’m just happy to be around my family.

Summer holiday

Road trip

Our late summer holiday has begun! Long awaited family road trip to Busselton started with lots of excitement and some trepidation due to our Omnicron situation, gosh I really wish the Covid situation was over.

Happy family in the family car, I’m always grateful that ah pa bought this seven seater as it has made our road trips a lot more fun and relaxing. The girls love gung gung’s big white car and always ask to sit in it.

The kids and their luggage

The girls love packing their luggage, I used to enjoy the preparation and planning for the trip more than the trip itself so I know how they feel. I remember pouring over the Disneyland booklets and our itinerary with my sisters when I was young, oh what a fun childhood we had.

Ah ma and I have been busy preparing CNY snacks! A week of my holiday has gone by and I feel like I haven’t done anything except make bak kwa for the family.

Tomatoes galore

We always stop by Bunbury farmers market on the way to Busso, the fruits and veg always look so appetising.

I don’t think the prices were that cheap, but you feel like buying everything when they are stacked up prettily like that.

Saitaomei and her donut peach

Steamboat dinner

We had steamboat for dinner at our resort room. We’ve decided to take it easy this vacation and not cook that much but eat out more often. This steamboat dinner was surprisingly satisfying though and we all enjoyed ourselves. I forgot to take pictures of our room with is a two story loft. It’s not especially flash but comfortable and clean for us. The girls are easily pleased and love the stairs and the loft bedroom, they also like the balcony a lot.

We already had fun swimming in the resort pools this afternoon and also exploring the very beautiful and calm beach. I think it will be a fun vacation and one the girls will think of fondly in the future!

Day 10 of 2022

The first week of 2022 just flew by and I’m back at work today 😭. To be honest I already started feeling the weight of work last week even though I was officially on leave. My staff called me everyday, mostly to just keep me updated and I was checking my emails throughout. I wish I could get to the stage where I can just switch off from work but I think it’s near impossible.

Saitaoha at our local playground

The days have gone by quickly, just being with the kids all day. I think they’re getting so used to having mummy around, Saitaomei asked me the other day whether I could not go to work forever.

I’m hoping they will remember this block of summer holidays when mummy had a lot of time off and tried to spend quality time with them. They’ve both been sleeping in their own room, but still like me to stay with them until they fall asleep. It means I’ve been pretty tired and trotting back and forth between both rooms when someone wakes up and inevitably asks for mummy.

But still, my girls are growing up before my eyes. The nights that we spend together in their bedroom while they ask for another story about ‘Saitaoha and Saitaomei’ and request for ‘just one last hug and kiss’ before bed will be cherished memories for me. Already their speech has changed dramatically and they have great logical reasoning and expressions during conversation. I’m always amazed and wonder how my children sound so different everyday.

A bird built a nest in my ah pa’s grape vines, she has baby birds inside the nest. I take it as a sign of good fortune for the family. I think after the last couple of years, we could do with a bit of extra luck.

Saitaomei

The other day ah ma and I walked to the little playground around the corner of our house and the girls cycled there. I think it was a fun experience for them, cycling along the streets.

Poor Saitaoha looks glum here because she just had her first COVID vaccine jab. She was full of bravado earlier and told me she likes shots. But it all got too much to her during the actual day and she was nervous and a bit upset afterwards. Soon cheered up though and doesn’t seem to have any side effects whatsoever the day after.

Summer holidays

The glorious summer holidays of 2022, may they stretch on for the days to come, I’m not ready for them to be over yet !