Filling the hole

What a productive weekend!

I made lunch bentos, cooked dinner for the in laws, we went to Kings Park, Watertown, even managed to squeeze in some house chores and diy jobs.

I was surprised that my in laws haven’t been to Kings Park before! They’ve been to Perth quite a few times so I was sure we would have brought them during their earlier visits but apparently not. They were wowed by the beautiful scenery and gorgeous lawns. Everytime I forget how beautiful Perth is, Kings Park serves as a reminder. It’s the kind of place you will see parents blowing bubbles for their kids just like the above picture.

This time we walked a lot and explored the Botanic Garden. I still feel we only covered 10 percent of the actual park though.

The tree top walk glass bridge, but Saitaomei was disappointed ‘it’s not a glass bridge mummy!’ she said pointing at the steel deck, I guess glass railings don’t count for her.

My eldest child who is so grown up, tall and slim nowadays. Sigh, all her babyness flew away years ago.

Lunch at Forklore, a fusion brunch cafe. So funny to have congee for lunch but R liked this a lot.

I shared lunch with this little girl, she ate very well, must be all the running around the park, worked up an appetite.

Walking to school together. I took a photo of them thinking these are the kind of memories we will miss when our parents and our kids grow older. The elderly may not be able to walk so far anymore, the kids may not want to walk with us anymore.

I was glad that when we got home after our Sunday outing, we still had time to fill in the bore hole at my parent’s house.

This year I literally saw both my parents collapse before my very eyes. It may sound a tad dramatic in terms of Ah ma, but we were walking to her car together and had to walk past the disused bore hole. When we bought the house, the bore hole was missing its lid which meant there was a gaping round hole in the ground. My father was afraid the kids would fall in and quickly bought wooden planks which he measured and made a makeshift lid over the hole. It worked well for years except the planks had weathered over time and become very fragile which I noticed a couple of weeks ago. I was thinking we would have to replace it soon and do something with it. Lo and behold, Ah ma was walking in front of me towards the car, she stepped on one of the planks and it broke, she fell through the plank and luckily her body stuck halfway and she didn’t fall right into the deep hole. Still, she was lucky she didn’t break her leg or suffer worse injuries, she still got bruises and scratches though.

I know my father was alarmed and knowing his nature, I knew he would want to fix it at straightaway. I was right, when ah ma and I were back from our grocery shopping, Ah pa had already gone out with the girls to Bunnings and bought new wooden planks to replace the broken ones.

I wanted a better solution though, I knew the planks would not last long and that in a few years the same thing would happen. We had to fill in the hole, probably should have done that years ago but at that time we thought we might fix the bore one day. Thankfully R thought the same, when I relayed to him what has happened, he immediately said we should fill the hole with sand and cover it up properly.

So we did! I was glad we got it done relatively quickly and painlessly, it felt therapeutic for me to get down and dirty. There are so many things that I wish I could resolve for my parents but 我无能为力, this activity felt cathartic, I was filling that ‘bad hole that made mah mah fall’ as Saitaomei put it, at least there was something I could do to stop my parents from getting hurt.

Now if only I could fill all the other holes in my family’s life that easily !

Girl time

It was a good weeekend with great weather for a change! Decided to bring the girls out for a long walk to the playground to make the most of the sunny weather, they were delighted and so was I.

Running around in the park, they’re each other’s best companion and I’m so glad they will never feel lonely. Lately they’ve been sharing a bedroom together and seem to be loving it. I still look forward to the day I can let them have a room of their own, I will let them decorate and furnish it however they want when the day comes.

Picnic of nuggets and chips, they were happy as larks. The girls love it when it’s just us girls having our ‘girl time’ as they call it, it’s lovely to just chatting with them and really listening. I must remember to organise more ‘girl time’ outings.

My phone was filled with a million of these mushroom pictures taken by Saitaoha.

Bought a durian for Ah pa, it wasn’t really a ‘special’ price but I think Ah pa said the durian was really good, so all worth it. He’s had a stressful few weeks, I’m hoping things get easier for him soon.

Ah pa’s new you, this party box which the kids love haha. They’ve been enjoying having karaoke singing sessions all weekend. Not sure the neighbours are that excited but we make sure it doesn’t go on for too long.

Bangers and mash from Dome’s very ordinary fare but I love going for outings with my sisters and I also enjoy eating out during the weekends. Everything feels like a treat and I love these gatherings which feel so fun and special to me.

Back to the daily grind tomorrow. I feel like I have so much housework and clean up to do before my in laws arrive, the list feels endless and I’m a terrible housekeeper. Sigh I’m not looking forward to this 大扫除 but I know it’s sorely needed. The house is a tip and long overdue for a big clean up. At times like these I long to demolish the house and start from scratch!

Back to counting down to the weekend again ….

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi

My beautiful girls 🥰. It was a very busy Friday for us starting with Saitaoha getting a merit award. She is gradually getting more confident in her work, I hope this continues as I just want her to be confident and happy about herself.

And then it was dash off to work for another important event which thankfully went by quite quickly. I’m glad that R doesn’t work on Fridays because those are the days we try to squeeze in family commitments and medical appointments etc.

I was exhausted by the time the evening rolled around but it wasn’t ending yet. Off we went the whole family to Ah pa and my Australian swearing in ceremony!

Haha Ah pa is a full fledged Aussie now! So glad that we could do this together. I was also really pleased how well organised and lovely the event was, it made becoming Aussie together with Ah pa all the more meaningful. And it was great that most of the family were there. It means a lot to me that Ah pa’s home is with us where we can take care of him.

It was an eventful day, I was so so tired by the end of it I took a couple of painkillers and went to sleep straight away. At night I dreamt of my mah mah, she hardly comes into my dreams, maybe she was happy about Ah pa becoming an Australian too?

Please let the rainbows shine again.

Movie night with my sister’s family, Little Mermaid was nice and very nostalgic to watch. I’m glad R joined us because Disney wasn’t part of his childhood so he didn’t enjoy Disneyland as much when we visited years ago. I think he will like it much more when we go next time because he will have watched most Disney cartoons with the kids by then !

Sunday aftenoon corporate box seats at Netball wa with R. I wasn’t that keen to be go because Sunday is usually family day and also my bosses would all be there meaning networking which I’m terrible at. But I couldn’t say no to such a nice gesture and I’m glad we went because it was a really fun and nice experience.

Nice food and free flow drinks 🍹 but I mostly liked watching the game from the court side. It was a great game and West Coast Fever were very good, I would love to bring the girls one day.

I think the girls would have liked the porky balloon. A fun weekend, one where I finally felt I was on the road to recovery, let’s hope that’s the end of winter bugs for me but i know that’s wishful thinking since winter has only just begun 😬.

A new addition !

It’s the end of the Easter holidays sigh. Feels like it just flew by, I didn’t even get to spend much time with the kids because I didn’t take any time off work. The kids are excited about going back to school though so that’s a good sign.

The tiniest watermelon

Saitaomei is the 开心果 in the family, sometimes when I’m supposed to be telling her off for something naughty she did, I end up struggling to hide a grin or laugh instead. She’s just so funny and cheeky that I can’t help but laugh. Sigh sad that my baby chipmunk is growing up.

Whereas this cool and calm Saitaoha is showing more 大姐风 lately. I think she’s growing in confidence which can only be a good thing. We’ve been exercising together a lot and it’s something that I now enjoy doing together with her. Today she requested that we have a kids yoga session so we had an ommmm session together.

We celebrated Jo’s birthday the way we know best, by eating ! I hope her birthday brings her good health and happiness. It makes me so worried that my sisters aren’t in the pink of health and my parents have all these ailments too. Sigh signs of growing old, it brings me so much fear and I am really worried about the family’s general health. I think we don’t have healthy lifestyles and habits and it’s going to take a lot for us to change, but we really have to !

I am so happy with the arrival of my nephew!! It’s been a while since we’ve had a new addition to the family, Saitaomei declared that she’s no longer the baby of tbt family but she’s still the baby in Australia haha. So thrilled for my brother and sister in law, they are such deserving parents and everyone should have the joy of having a child. Yes raising a child is not easy and there are lots of sacrifices involved, but I feel the joy that a child brings to a family outweighs all the stress and hard work.

The baby is sooo cute 🥰 I am utterly in love and wish he was here so I could give him cuddles. I hope my brother sends us lots of photos, he doesn’t seem to be good at doing that though 🙄.

The end of the Easter hols signals the start of a busy period at work and a busy school term for the girls. I think the rest of the year will be jam packed for us but I’m determined that we will work hard and also play hard at the same time! I’m going to find the joy in working hard and also the reward in overcoming challenges and achieving milestones both in work and in life ☺️.

Autumn weekend

Ah pa commented today that it feels like we skipped autumn altogether and jumped straight into winter. The temperature has dropped the past week and we also had the category five cyclone that hit the Pilbara region and brought rainy weather to Perth.

I have to admit that I’m loving the cooler weather but not loving the kids starting to get sick again. This is what gets me down the most during the cold season, the family getting sick including myself. Luckily Saitaomei wasn’t too bad and apart from bad coughing at night, she was generally fine during the day.

I thought that I wouldn’t be having Teawoks so soon again, but Saitaoha really wanted to have kolo mee! R and I ordered a laksa to share and it was pretty good, so good that …

we made our own laksa the next day ! It’s been a while since I’ve cooked laksa for the family, I can never get it quite right and always need R to help me season towards the end. Maybe we’re all missing home ? But this made me feel nice and warm inside.

Bringing the kids to the playground and having a picnic on Saturday because the rain finally let up! We were supposed to go to the beach but the weather dashed all plans. Summer is over and we haven’t been to the beach oops.

Happy girls who need a haircut. Luckily their hairdresser aka papa gave them a trim the next day.

Saitaoha tells me that she wants to go to Disneyland. I’m definitely bringing the girls in a few years, Shanghai or America, hopefully in 2 years ? I want to make sure that we have ample time and can travel in comfort !

Watching Jinny’s kitchen inspired me to make sushi/kimbap for our Sunday night dinner. Kids were delighted since they love sushi, my Ah ma and I were happy too since we both love Japanese food.

It dawned on me that I’m glad that I find pleasure in cooking, because if I see something nice in a tv show most of the time I can try making it myself, and I can also satisfy most of my own food cravings. It also makes me feel happy when I’m able to cook for the family and can cook together with Ah ma!

One of my favourite things to do during the weekend is going over to my parent’s house by myself in the afternoon and pottering about their kitchen (indoor and outdoor) prepping and cooking dinner. After a while my parents who are usually resting will come out of their room and Ah ma will chat with me, sometimes cook her own dishes, if the kids are around, ah pa will be busy cutting fruit for them, or else he will head out to his beloved garden and start watering and tending to his plants.

Then dinner time will come around and we will all sit together at the dining table and have a nice home cooked meal. Simple pleasures that I never take for granted. This is my favourite kind of Sunday to end the week.

The Easter long weekend is over, it was fabulous in every way and the kids enjoyed their staycation so much. Saitaoha even thought that the Easter holiday was almost over because we managed to pack in so many activities and family time that it felt like a very long time. Needless to say she was delighted when she realised it was only the start of her holidays.

Thankfully they ate well despite it being fine dining, R and I certainly had a good time and it was nice having different explosions of flavour and a nice glass of wine after a long time. We used to love going for degustation dinners but those days are long gone.

They enjoyed the Alice in wonderland exhibition a lot and the adults had fun too. It was a good idea to watch the movie (I tried to read them the book but it was too cheem) before hand so they could completely immerse themselves in the exhibition.

The Madhatter’s tea party was a favourite segment and we went twice.

Dabbling in creative art in non other then the art gallery. The girls love art and drawing so this was right up their alley.

I love their creativity and imagination. Who knew they could build a castle out of these blocks.

My idea and Saitaoha executed it. She’s a bright child 😍.

Playing with art in the streets. A child’s imagination knows no boundaries, it’s a pity that our creativity becomes stifled once we reach adulthood. Or maybe that’s just me.

There was oodles of noodles throughout the long weekend. The kids couldn’t get enough and asked for more noodles when we got home!

The hotel was nice with a wide spacious lobby and best of all a heated pool!

Another Easter holiday gone by and my children change before my eyes. How I will miss these glorious days.

Hop hop happy Easter

My big girls 😍. April is off to a good start with our visit to a new playground last weekend. I’ve realised that I get really grumpy when we’re not doing anything over the weekend, it makes me feel as if I’m not giving the girls good experiences and adventures outside of school.

I’m not a great mum most of the time, too impatient and bad tempered. But I do try my best to make sure they have a fun and happy childhood, I want them to see the world, experience different cultures, see new things, just like what my parents did for us.

My latest obsession is about getting them their own bedrooms. Saitaoha is such a neat freak and looks after her own things so well, it feels wrong that she doesn’t have her own space. Sigh this is a work in progress but I hope I can let her have her own room soon.

The start of the Easter holidays has been good, we went out shopping after work on Thursday, something we haven’t done for a long time because we’re usually tired after work and school and just stay in on school nights. We didn’t buy anything and didn’t have anything to buy haha, but it was fun just window shopping. The kids had their second dinner of nuggets and chips 🍟 and enjoyed it very much.

It’s going to be really busy at work after Easter , but I think I’m finding my groove and it’s nice to know people around the organisation now, I think I’m settling in. I’m determined to have fun with the girls this Easter holidays though and have lots of things planned for us. Woo hoo to a fun Easter break.

Wake me up when March ends

TGIF with my parents is the best, except when Ah pa pays for the bill grrrr.

My beautiful Saitaoha is bright and lovely. I don’t give her enough credit and am usually pretty harsh on her. I don’t know why she still wants to do her daily reading with me when I’m so horrible sometimes, I really am a very bad teacher. But still every night she wants to read with me. Tonight she read her library book out loud by herself and even taught her little sister to read and spell. Sometimes I worry that she seems to care about her friends more than her sister, and yet when I hear her nagging at her sister to stay away from the roads, and worrying about her getting lost, I think she’s a good sister.

The girls ask me why they don’t get to see their girl cousin more often. Reminder to ask my sister to let the cousins come and visit more often, and to keep the house in better order so that I can actually invite people over !

It’s been a trying, emotional and disappointing week. Many times I think that my kids deserve much better parents, we can do better on so many fronts. My dear friends tell me not to beat myself up so much, but I think it’s the opposite, I think we’re often too easy on ourselves. The excuses are endless and it’s always easier to blame other elements instead of ourselves for the way things pan out.

It’s not lost on me that my children make my life so much brighter. I am looking forward to the end of this dreary March, I’m really hoping the second quarter of 2013 is much better.

March madness

Disaster zone of my ripped out bathroom. But this is actually a good sign because it means we are finally renovating the bathroom which is my most hated room in the house! I’ve been putting it off for years because I kept thinking this is not my final home, I was reluctant to put money into renovating something I won’t be staying in for long. But I think it finally clicked in this year that our dream home is at least a few years away, and I want us to have a better quality of life. Plus an upgrade also means the house will be more rentable in the future, so why not ?

I also realised that those house is special to my husband, I think because it was his first home purchase, so he loves it and thinks its architecture is sound. I don’t think he would ever sell it. I do have a special place for my first home too, but I think I would sell it in a heartbeat if the price was really good. My favourite home is where my parents live, I think because it feels like a real home to me, I love cooking in my mum’s big kitchen ahd the outdoor kitchen, I love wandering around my dad’s garden, and I just like sitting around their table!

We’ve had to move in to my mum’s place while our bathroom reno is going on. This evening I was in the bedroom and I could hear the sound of my kids laughing and chatting with my parents in the backyard. It was the best sound and I thought ‘home is where the heart is’ and my heart is with my family.

Every year my Ah pa buys a huge load of grapes from my friend’s grape farm and gifts them to friends and family. He gave us such a huge discount we don’t dare to return anymore! I’m so grateful that we’ve stayed friends all this time and are in each other’s lives.

Mummy I’m a superstar in my class again! This little girl loves going to school and her teacher seems to think she’s a superstar too.

Saitaoha attended her best friend’s birthday party, she was shy and afraid at first but thankfully warmed up in the end. My poor girl is an introvert like I am! I hope she will grow in confidence this year.

Another yummy TGIF dinner with the family! I’m beginning to love our Friday dinners, it’s such a fun and delicious way to welcome the weekend haha.

March is going to be a month of whirlwind activity, I hope we have lots of fun and everything goes well!

Procrastinator

I’m such a terrible procrastinator, sometimes I annoy myself so much. I have been sleeping too late, sleeping in too long, lazing about too much, working too little. I feel like I’m in a slump and I’m not sure how to get my mojo back.

I’m glad R and I made it to watch Saitaomei receive her first merit award at school. She was so delighted and happy it really warmed my heart. I hope this is the first of many of merit awards during her school years, but even if she doesn’t get awards, I’m happy as long as she continues to love school and learn lots.

Bringing the kids to the playground during the weekend was a way to get back into our normal routine.

I’ve even been too lazy to cook much! This weekend I totally slacked off and we ended up having Kuching food for Sunday dinner.

I have to say having kolo mee for dinner was a great idea and very comforting.

But I really do get off my lazy bum and stop procrastinating! Let’s hope next week I can report back to say that I’ve actually been productive and knocked off some items from my long to-do list 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻