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!

Easter trip – Dunsborough

What terrible weather for our Easter road trip!

Didn’t dampen Saitaoha’s excitement though :). She’s been asking me everyday whether she can ‘go on holiday yet?’ Please mummy please….’ finally I could say yes today and she went ‘yeah!!!’

Our air bnb house is really quite nice with great family areas, it’s a pity the weather is so crummy or else we would be walking to the beach nearby.

Mushroom risotto for dinner cooked by my trusty Phillips all in one cooker. We wanted something easy to cook and this hit the spot.

Breaking out the snacks flown from the United States. It is really fun being all together. I’m looking forward to tomorrow already.

We have a babysitter in Aunty Peggy, she’s like a pied piper, all the kids adore her and follow her everywhere.

Now that we’re on the way back home, it is safe to say that the best day of our holiday was the first day :S. I think our downfall was my stupid attitude of trying to please everyone but ending up pleasing no one. It’s something that I have a habit of doing and I’m kicking myself for it. R didn’t help of course, at times I feel like I have three children, with him being the most petulant and childish one! It’s when I’m reminded how different our upbringings and characters are. Trying periods but we get through them as we always do.

Very impressive sandcastle, other little kids came along to help decorate too, so cute.

We lost our hearts to the beach just 5 mins walk from our place.

It was breathtaking in the evening and during sunset.

Hehe little Saitaomei got to dip her feet in the cold waters. She loved it of course.

More sandcastle building for the dynamic duo. She was like LG’s little shadow throughout the holiday.

The pinks and blues 💕.

The winery that nobody wanted to go to except me 😓.

But at least Jiu Jiu scored a happy picture with Saitaomei! He has been trying to win her heart the whole trip and semi succeeded.

Happy at The Berry Farm playground with her heroine. The farm was a disappointment and I wish we didn’t go, it wasn’t the season for berry picking and everyone was tired after the long drive.

The scones were good though.

Their signature beef and red wine pie was bad, even R was struggling to finish it.

Mei mei enjoyed running around the playground.

It felt like these long windy roads were a huge part of the trip. Why is everything in Perth so far from each other? We need to have better planning systems.

This was the highlight of Saitaoha’s holiday, the countless amount of Easter egg hunts she had, I feel she will remember it for years to come.

Very serious this Easter egg hunting activity.

Mei mei had some Easter egg hunt fun too. I still remember when Saitaoha was too small to understand the Easter egg hunt that her cousins had so much fun with, she’s grown up so much.

I am so much less patient with her compared to her mei mei. Because she is bigger I expect so much more from her, it’s pretty tough for this three year old. During the holiday I scolded her for not eating her food properly and told her she was not going to the beach. She’s a stubborn one too, she sat at the bottom of the stairs sadly but refused to speak to me.

Then she told my ah ma ‘Mummy is so naughty, she so bad to me’. Woes of being a mummy. She doesn’t look for me for comfort or tenderness, it’s her mah mah that she looks for. Sigh what to do.

They’re so cute together. One all encompassing in her love for her jeje, jeje basking in the adoration from her loyal fan.

It was lovely being able to spend time with my family even though there were only brief quality moments.

Like the walk to the shops with ah ma and Saitaoha in the stroller.

The supper of Maggi Mee that we all had during our last night. We were not really hungry, I think we siblings just wanted to do something together. Like the old days when we had roadside burgers at our family home together, everyone had one even though I was really the only one hankering for a sloppy burger.

Then there was the dark walk to the shops with my siblings after some beach activity. It was fun walking in the darkness, teasing each other and laughing at our own jokes.

It wasn’t an easy or perfect family holiday, but the little pockets of gold are enough to sustain me till our next holiday.

Mandurah long weekend

The long weekend is over. (T____________T). And there won’t be anymore public holidays till Christmas! (T___________________________________T). I am so depressed.

We headed up to Mandurah, a city about an hour or less away from Perth. Despite having train lines that go direct from Perth to Mandurah, I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never explored the city of Mandurah. The city that weekend was very quiet and peaceful.

My impression of Mandurah was water water water. Everything was linked to the clear blue water,  there were protected waterways, canals, ponds, beaches. The canals were very pretty, and I could imagine how tranquil and lovely (plus expensive!)  it would be to have a holiday home in Mandurah.

It must be nice to be able to sail out to the sea whenever you feel like it. I loved being surrounded by the blue blue water and listening to the quiet lapping of gentle waves.

When the walking and discovering was over, it was nice to stop for a coffee and a traditional breakfast of toast, bacon and eggs.

I enjoyed the long weekend. Why would I want to go somewhere even slower than Perth (with Perth constantly being described as Dullsville)? But it was really nice to get away, to leave all the responsibilities, tasks and questions away for a while, life did stop for a second.

But now it’s back to reality again. Just opening my email inbox brought me back to reality in a jolt. And I just feel miserable. I guess this is long weekend aftermath blues.

The Goose Cafe @ Busselton

The trip to Busselton/Margaret River was so long ago (back in September 2009!) that it now remains a distant, fuzzy memory. But ask me about the highlight of the trip and I would say‘The Goose Café’ which remains a clear beacon of our long weekend Down South.

The Goose Café is conveniently located opposite the famous Busselton Jetty. But the gorgeous views and great location was lost on us because we couldn’t see much of it that night.

The café itself wasn’t even near Bistro Felix in terms of fine dining surroundings, but the service was pretty good, the atmosphere was warm and friendly and most importantly, the food was delicious.

Before the trip, A said to me firmly ‘ If venison is on the menu, order it’. So I knew I had to order the Margaret River venison which came on a bed of risotto. I don’t remember much about the venison but I know it was tender and well cooked, not seasoned enough but the sauce made up for it. The risotto itself was nice but it wasn’t wow.

But my ‘award winning’ (not sure what award)  seafood chowder which came with a chockful of seafood including snapper, tiger prawns, scallops, mussels and a cured salmon crostini ($37.50) was wow. It was beautiful and exactly what I expected a really good seafood chowder to taste like. The chowder was creamy but yet not overly thick and of the right consistency, The seafood was fresh, the broth so tasty and flavorful that we lapped up every drop and mopped it up with the crostini. So good we were smiling from ear to ear. Richard loved the scallops so much that now whenever we eat scallops he’ll say ‘can’t compare to the scallops at The Goose’.

Our dessert was the chocolate fondant with vanilla icecream. It was sinfully rich, chocolatey and sweet, sweet, sweet. Perfect end to the night.

Why was the night so memorable? Could have been because it was the first night of our long weekend and we were floating on air. Maybe it was the bottle of sweet white wine that we shared. Could be the magical atmosphere that permeated the entire night which started from dressing up in our finest and getting lost but happily finding our way through the trusty GPS. But personally I think it was the food and being with a fellow foodie, someone who is as enthusiastic as you are about fresh seafood, experimenting seasonal product, discussing cooking techniques and dissecting magical sauces. Eating good food was fantastic, but sharing good food with a fellow foodie was even better.

Daitaoha ratings:

Food: 8/10

Service: 7/10

The Goose Cafe
Geographe Bay Rd
Busselton WA 6280
(08) 9754 7700