I think the three daughters were all holding their breath until Hank Marvin made his grand entrance at the concert. This was the moment we’d been praying for, that my ah Pa would get to see his ultimate idol play some of his favourite songs live. Hank didn’t disappoint, his guitar playing was so beautiful and his sound was so clear and amazing. I can see why my father worshipped him growing up. The songs he played, The Young Ones, Summer Holiday, familiar songs that we’ve heard our father play over and over since our youth. It still amazes me to hear my own daughter playing and singing to Summer Holiday, her guitar teacher being none other than her favourite Gung Gung.
When Saitaoha and Saitaomei were born, I realised how hard my parents worked to allow us to build the foundation for all our dreams to come true. As parents, we want our children to have the best lives, we want them to live their dreams. But I realised that as we grow older, we not only want to make our children’s dreams come true, we also want our parents’ dreams to come true!
I hope my parents enjoyed themselves and we can continue making wonderful memories together as a family.
I’ve realised this year that I enjoy celebrating birthdays, both my own and others. The celebrations don’t have to be big, in fact I like them small and intimate with just family, but I love the occasion of spoiling someone, of letting that special someone know that we love them and care for them.
This year there were three birthday cakes because ah Pa, M and my birthdays all fell on the same day, pretty cool.
My sister brought me out for lunch, skewers which is my niece’s favourite food. I think she enjoyed herself a lot.
The kids went on to play at the challenge rooms and I went home back to work. They had lots of fun and I was glad the cousins had such a fun time together. It was busy at work even though I was working from home, but a productive day with some great outcomes, things that we’ve been working on for a long time have finally come to fruition. It was a good way to end the work week. I told my boss that the outcome was my birthday present from the company, she had a good laugh.
We seem to have Korean fried chicken for our birthday dinner every year, I think we will try something else next year.
The birthday traditional meal that never gets old. It’s a labour of love and I appreciate it even though I’ve never been a fan of long life noodles. My kids love it though.
Birthday boy and birthday girl.
Ah pa and his grandkids minus little Theo. They all love him and like Saitaomei said in the card she made for him ‘you are one of my favourite person in the world’, in my card she wrote ‘thank you for cooking me good food’ 😅. But I agree with her, Gung Gung is also one of my favourite people in the world.
I love it that her card has me running on the threadmill. Why did you draw mummy running I asked. ‘Because you love running and you run all the time !’ she replied. I had a chuckle because I don’t love running, but I have been running almost daily for maybe half a year now. Perhaps it’s become such a usual sight that my kids now think I love it. But that’s a good sign, I want them to see me active and up and about. I’ve been actively trying to go outdoors and bring our family for walks etc since last year and I think it’s become a norm. I like it that this is our new norm and I want this to become our daily habit and our lifestyle.
My birthday wish is for our collective good health, for my family to be happy and healthy, for my health and happiness, in a way, health equals happiness doesn’t it? To be physically and mentally healthy equates to happiness for me.
At 42, I surprisingly don’t feel that old even though I always lament that I am old. I feel like there’s more to come for me, and I see growth and development, I see myself wanting to become stronger and pushing myself forward, so there’s lot in store for me and I’m excited for life ahead.
To be loved and celebrated by such great people around me must mean that I’m doing ok in life. Birthdays are a great reminder that life is good and today I am once again reminded that I have so much to be grateful for. Happy birthday me.
Look at my big girls! I constantly look at their younger photos and marvel how they’ve lost all their baby features.
It was Wednesday but I really really wanted a cafe coffee. Luckily R and the girls were game and off to their favourite Dome’s we went.
So proud of herself for learning how to use chopsticks. I am proud of this little one, that she is a kind hearted and generous girl. But I also worry she will spend her life just trying to please others and sacrificing herself.
This year I exercised more! I’m trying to build up my stamina so I will be ready for our Shanghai trip, but it makes me feel healthier and better about myself. The kids also like our outdoor activities and going for walks with me. Let’s hope I can continue with this more active lifestyle for the rest of my life.
It’s almost the end of school holidays. I haven’t done much with the kids at all. I took tomorrow off thinking I would bring them somewhere special like Adventure World, but it’s going to be raining all day 😭.
Despite my parenting flaws, I believe the kids still had a fun time this school holidays. This is purely because of family that stepped up in my absence. My sister and parents have been bringing the kids out for treats.
Whenever I disappoint the kids, I always think thank god I have wonderful parents that make up for all my flaws. They get so much TLC from their grandparents and aunties, they have a sanctuary and safe place outside of their parents.
I’ve been with my current workplace for two years yet I still feel like a newbie. I think to outside eyes they think I’m settling well, but I still feel so raw and exposed. I am envious of others who I don’t view as particularly competent, but they are able to mask their incompetence by speaking the right lingo. There are times when I yearn for my precious industry and the comfort and familiarity that it brings. But I also know to go back means I’m actually going backwards in my development. So grit my teeth I must.
Is this the final industry for me? For now I’m thinking maybe not.
I finally went back to the office today after what feels like weeks of working from home due to illness. I knew it would be a tough day and it really was. I had to keep escaping from the desk to run to the ladies or outside whenever I felt a coughing fit coming. I had to leave a meeting halfway for the same reason. When I returned, it was with streaming eyes, a red nose and raw cheeks.
To make matters worse, my mother messaged me to tell me that Saitaomei was very sick and inconsolable. Late last night as I patted her to sleep and she smiled at me with her fiery red cheeks, I felt so sorry for her, for Saitaoha and for my family in general for having a mother, wife and daughter in such poor health.
At work, I looked at my boss and my colleagues and also felt sorry for them, sorry they are short changed with a colleague that is never present and is so underwhelming in performance. For the past few weeks I’ve been thinking that I should be fired. Who gets sick for so long with no end in sight.
I’ve missed the kids’ dance performances. I’ve missed their sports carnivals, I couldn’t celebrate my mum’s birthday, I won’t be able to take time off during school holidays because I haven’t been present in the office for the past month.
My brother is coming in December but I bet I’ll be sick again and can’t play with my cute nephew, which was the exact same situation last time they came.
I really am at my wits end. I really am so so sick of my sick self.
Ah pa finally got to meet his hero Hank Marvin and watch him playing guitar in real life.
We met a fellow Hank Marvin fan before the show started and he was telling us all about his love for Hank. We told him that our father loved The Shadows and my sister told him Apache was our get ready to go to breakfast song when we were kids.
At one point I was watching my father watch Hank Marvin play with joy in his eyes, when I noticed my sister who was sitting next to my father looking at him too. Throughout the night we were conscious of my dad, my sister offered him cough lollies when he coughed, I passed him a bottle of water that I prepared for him. When my father left to go to the toilet, both of us were watching him go and come back.
I realised at that moment the only people in the world that feel the way I do about my Ah pa are my siblings. Happy Father’s Day Ah pa, the best ah pa in the world.
My in laws have been in town for the past two weeks. Prior to them coming I was dreading all the clean up and also all of us squeezing into our small house, I was hoping it wouldn’t be too uncomfortable for all of us. Luckily it’s all been good and time has flown by. The kids love having both sets of grandparents to spoil them and my in laws seem to be enjoying themselves despite us not taking time off work to bring them around. I think partly it’s because my ‘village’ have been very welcoming with my parents and siblings all being very lovely hosts.
The crazy girl who changed between green and blue all night when she was supporting the Matildas’ women’s World Cup.
Grateful for home cooked dinners every night. My fil’s cooking is very different from mine so it’s nice to have a change and also nice to not have to cook dinner :).
My pretty made up girl had her first dance concert. We couldn’t spot her during the performance because there were so many kids but I hope she had lots of fun nevertheless.
Hello Emma, this year’s book week.
My giraffe, her class had Lion King as the class theme. Her papa made the tail and sewed it on her pants.
Feels like it’s been all very full on and busy, I’m hoping our holidays come soon, I think I’ll be ready for one by the time it comes around.
R’s birthday conveniently falls within the WA Day long weekend so there’s always extra time to have a special celebration. This year I booked us a family staycation in Mandurah. The weather was terrible during the long weekend, but thankfully it didn’t hit until our last night there.
Making memories with my little girls who are not so little anymore. I wonder whether they will look back at our little trips and staycations around Perth with fondness when they grow up. My parents brought my siblings and I around the world when we were kids, and I think we are all the better for having travelled the world at a young age and understanding there is a world outside of Kuching. These little trips for us are not far away, not even a plane trip away and mostly a short car ride away, but there are golden memories for me, time to get away from technology, work and the hum drum of everyday life. I really needed this trip to be a kind mum to my kids again, because I’ve been sick, I’ve been so cranky, grumpy and impatient with them. My poor suffering children.
Amazingly they are very forgiving and love me regardless. How I wonder? Will they stay this pure and sweet forever?
The pool is always a highlight during our staycations, this one was heated but not hot enough for the cold weather that struck this weekend. I think they still had fun regardless but I was glad to get out 🙂
A memorable dinner at the Italian next door, the food was delicious, the service even better. The girls ate really well and finished all their dinner and dessert. I was glad that the restaurant was noisy enough to mask any coughing fits. It’s a slow road to recovery.
Waking up the birthday papa with their cards and cuddles. Surely that’s the best way to wake up on your birthday? Happy birthday R. My mum had cooked him the traditional birthday meal of long life noodles and chicken soup the day before, I’m grateful for my mother who continues the birthday tradition and generously extends it to her son-in-laws.
The sun was out but so was the chilly wind. Playground time by the foreshore.
They were delighted to be reunited with their cousin and also happy to be indulging in marshmallow monsters.
A day of shopping later, we braved the rain for R’s birthday dinner. The steak was stupendous and so was the wine and sides. I think R enjoyed his birthday dinner, the kids and I sure did! The heavy rain added adventure to the dinner.
Always some kind of noodles for this girl who is a noodle monster.
I knew she would miss rice after a few days and I was right. But Saitaoha’s favourite food is pizza, maybe she was an Italian in her past life?
Wonder what was his birthday wish?
The best way to spend a birthday with your children in your arms. I hope he felt loved and celebrated.
It’s been hard to get out of this downward spiral. I think we are generally a family of worrywarts and we have lots of anxiety. I was worried about not being able to be in the office, when I was in the office, I was worried about coughing at work. I was worried about juggling work and family commitments, not being there for my father when he goes for his medical procedures and appointments. I was worried about my father being worried about coughing during his procedure, then was worried that he would be disappointed when his procedure got cancelled. I am anxious that it is taking me so long to recover, concerned about my overall health and long term health condition.
It just feels like ‘adulting’ is just filled with anxiety all the time and because I’m caught up in fearing for the worst, I can’t move a step forward and I’m just anxious and grumpy and guilty all the time. Why is being an adult so difficult sometimes?
Hopefully this bout of illness is over soon and this wave of stormy weather passes over soon.
Just like that our much awaited Melbourne trip is over. Kids are back at school today and we’re also heading back to work, sigh, I guess it’s back to regular programming for us. For some reason the first quarter of the year has been jam packed for us.
The Melbourne trip didn’t go quite as well as I wanted, there were little mishaps along the way, mostly to do with my lack to attention of detail, my Achilles heel. There was the airport parking which ended up wasting up a lot of our time and energy, the hotel wasn’t perfect (l should have skipped the views and opted for location convenience), and Ah pa had a bad back. The funniest thing was when I asked the kids what they liked best about the trip, their answers were daily bath bombs, the balcony and views and the pool! Nothing about Melbourne at all! Next time if I ever plan a family trip again I will try to factor in fun kids outings like going to the aquarium. But I am glad they liked our apartment stay because I wanted them to stay on a high rise overlooking harbour views for a change.
Highlight was the wedding, who knew we would end up going to my cousin’s wedding and the cousin that we are probably least close with ! But I think it meant a lot to my uncle that his brother, my Ah pa was there. It was an important family event and I’m glad we made it there.
The girls had lots of fun at the wedding, they enjoyed dressing up and even went on the dance floor!
Wedding grounds were beautiful but it was too sunny for all of us so we didn’t venture far out from the venue.
I hope my parents had a nice time catching up with my relatives.
I had all these grand plans to bring my parents for yummy food in Melbourne but they all didn’t come to fruition because my Ah pa hurt his back and the kids weren’t keen on walking around the city. They wanted to stay home most of the time so we ended up eating at home. We managed to finish a whole carton of eggs in five days g😅
Another highlight of the trip was my father meeting up with his old friend from his hometown. I could tell that he likes my father a lot and who can blame him? My Ah pa is a great friend to have.
Best meal of the trip was at Old Beijing @ QV, a treat from my father’s friend. The food was so delicious, I wish we had something like that in Perth, would bring my parents to eat all the time.
I think the kids had the best time, ice cream almost every night , bath tub with different Lush bath bombs every night, spoilt and indulged by their grandparents and parents.
It wasn’t the perfect trip that I wanted for my family but I think it was a memorable trip, one that we will reminisce for years to come.
We were shocked when we realised the piggy banks that we bought the kids were so small! Luckily they still loved them and have been talking about saving up.
Thankful that I still get to walk the girls to school every now and then. We enjoy our walks a lot! This is them and a pink bottlebrush tree, the more common ones are red!
Close up taken by Saitaoha.
It was Teacher’s Day so we bought some flowers for the kids’ teachers. I think Saitaomei’s teacher Mrs H is amazing and so hardworking, she was also Saitaoha’s teacher.
I was glad that I could still walk the girls to school, I’m hoping that even when work gears up I will still have good work life balance which allows me to be more involved in their school life and also give my parents a break! R works every Saturday but has one Saturday off every three weeks, we always look forward to that Saturday because it means ample family time.
Every now and then R and I like to have a home cooked steak and red wine meal. It was a relaxing Friday night just chatting and laughing about work and the kids.
Spending the Saturday with my sister’s family. It’s almost 🎃 Halloween, not that we celebrate it but the decorations are fun.
I love going to Broadway Fair and Nedlands in general because it reminds me of my uni days. There were hard days during uni but I think of my uni friends and housemates fondly. This place just brings a smile to my face !
Jo and my fav chicken chop and fried rice with sambal egg. Why does it still taste good after a decade ?! I don’t miss my uni days or even my uni friends, but I have an affection for them and my university memories have a special place in my heart.
We had Koko Black for afternoon tea, my hot chocolate with orange was lovely.
Sigh Sunday tomorrow already, but the work week promises to be good so I’m feeling ok about it. That itself is also refreshing.
daitaoha 