our house has arrived!

We weren't exactly given a chance to catch a breath. Our container arrived at the foot of our building at 9.30 am! 

This will be unleashing the 195 boxes from our home in Frankfurt for unpacking. In addition, we brought back another 16 pieces of luggage when we flew back on Christmas Eve. I'm not looking forward to my next few weeks. What did they say this day was again? Boxing Day? Yeah, right! 

Christmas is in the air

Our calculated move to sacrifice part of Christmas and fly back to Singapore in a relatively empty long haul flight backfired! 

Who would have thought that the earlier flight from NYC to Frankfurt and then to Sg would end up having technical troubles and then cancelled? Who on that flight would have thought that he would miss Christmas in Perth/Sydney? Who would have thought that our flight would become part of the replacement to get the passengers home as soon as possible? 

I was told that there were no bookings for 1st class that night, while the business class and economy had 12 and 80 booked passengers respectively. So really, we could have had one row each to ourselves to sleep! BUT... sigh, no luck lah! 

In any case, our kids were really angels! They ate, watched videos, and slept. We made the wrong move of placing Alan between the kids during the 1st 8 hours of the flight, while I sat a row behind them with a mom and a son. Though I don't understand much Italian, the woman was scolding her son the whole time to keep still, while in actual fact, I didn't even hear the son make a single squeak. I think my kids were much louder than him. And then, she continued to apologise for scolding her son. I was, huh? Much later, she told me that she was afraid of flying. So that was the reason why she was so uptight that even each breath her son took would irritate her. In the end, I couldn't get a single wink in the first 8 hours until I switched place with Alan. And it was fantastic. The kids and I managed to contort ourselves into some positions which allowed all of us to lie down for a while. Actually, I was the one choreographing the moves, while the kids slept through. Alan was happy to get his aisle seat to stretch his legs. 

Comparing with our other single trip out of Sg three years ago, this flight went like a breeze. Then, I was travelling with my parents, Bryan at 27 months and Kristin at 12 weeks. A toddler who wanted to go up and down the aisle and a baby that I had to carry out of the bassinet once the seat-belt-sign was on. And this time round, we just slept... all slept even it was a couple of hours for me... it really is getting easier and easier each time we fly. Guess what? They don't even need their milk anymore when we travel. 

Krisworld never fails to captivate the kids' attention. Yes, Singapore Airlines is a great way to fly, indeed! 

last fruits...

These were the last batch of chilli I harvested from our balcony before we moved out of the apartment. They were all freshest of green in November. 

A month later, they all turned beautifully red. Alas, no more opportunities to cook. 

Bye bye my last fruits! 

bye bye my garden! 

sushi chef

Ever since Bryan made a new friend from Korea in his kindergarten this year, he's been into seaweeds and maki's. It wasn't difficult to get him excited about dinner one night when I said we were going to make maki's. He was very ready to help indeed. 

"I can make sushi's, Mom. It's very easy," he boasted. 

Thus came the challenge after having observed me for a few rounds. 

Yes, you're up, Bryan! 

Not too bad for a 5 yo and a first-timer. 

If only Kristin was into eating maki's too... 

smuggled aqua

Nowadays, I'm usually dehydrated whenever we fly. It isn't so much due to the dryness inflight, rather the security regulations intact to make sure nobody brings bottled water through the security area. And searching for a bottle of water at the duty free area's can sometimes be as difficult as looking for water in a desert! 

Bearing all those security regulations in mind, we had a water parade just before entering the checks. And this was the only one we forgot. It was still in our bag. A few days later, as I was unpacking I discovered this little bottle of aqua. Apparently, the Spanish checks at Barcelona had missed it. Tzzk tzzk tzzk! So much for safety regulations! 

bryan the daddy

During the Christmas concert last Friday, Bryan was playing Daddy to three boys and a baby. This was Bryan, the Daddy Pilot with his lovely wife, Daria! 

It's pretty obvious that he'd like to have children too, right? 

Wait till he discovers expired warranty!!! :D

it's too late now, isn't it?

Daddy, if you're reading this, you should know that our son here has the utmost sympathy with you. He told me, "Poor Daddy. He's back in Singapore working. Must be very boring and tiring." 

And me here? How come I never seem tired enough to the kids? I have been doing nothing other than shuttling them around between school and play dates and then fussing about their meal times, bedtime routine and sleep... and then my night duties to do dishes and laundry begin. 

In my very nasty mood and total exhaustion, I asked Bryan and Kristin a rhetorical question: Why didn't I keep a hobby instead? Yep, instead of... What a bad mom I am! 

Bryan was quick to catch my exasperation and replied, "But it's too late now, isn't it? You shouldn't have ordered us from God." 

Yes, certainly my own fault! 

He went on, "And you can't give us back to God now."

"So will you want to have children when you grow up?"

"Ermm, no thanks Ma. I can't. I want to be an astronaut. Astronauts can't have kids. Err... wait, I think I can't make an astronaut. I probably have to wear glasses. So errm... I can be a rocket scientist instead." 

Hey, rocket scientists or astronauts can still procreate. Besides, won't you wanna know what Bryan's kids might think about (not) having kids in the future?

14 more days and less...

Less than two weeks to departure... 

I've already called home, left a message with my parents. 

Told them they should be hanging out with their friends as often as possible. 

Coz when I'm back, I'll be sending my kids to them for a week. 

I'm looking forward to that!

Otherwise... it's just so sad now... 

quirks and twists...

Alamak... no mojo to blog and I still got tagged by Rojak Rendezvous and Wrong Side of Thirty to talk about my random stuff of 6. Thanks ladies, I know what you are up to. Once an IAA, always an IAA... so now the IAAs have hunted me down to join the IAAs again... ha! 

I gave a long hard thought on what kind of idiosyncrasies I could possibly have... really long one, while I was out at the gym this morning working out, driving through the city avoiding all traffic congestions, and over at a friend's place for play date. Ermm, actually my kids had a play date. We mommies just chilled and talked. Nice, the play date of course, not my quirks. 

My bestest friend - she lives in Munich now - would be the next best person (other than my spouse) who can tell you about my other random 6's. But here is the list of 6 I can come up with: 

1) The one about the toilet/bathroom

I'm sure this is pretty common, esp when public toilets are concerned. E.g. I would rather hold than go into a dark, dirty and smelly public toilet. Who wouldn't? But this isn't the end of my quirk. 

This one is about my friends' toilets and bathrooms.

During our uni days, Al and I used to visit friends who lived in various German cities. Once, a friend was out of town, so we could visit the city and at the same time stay over at his apartment for free! How nice! When we got back to Berlin, we received a call one day from this friend who insisted that he was being questioned by the police. Coz his whole bathroom and kitchen were sparkling clean... Not a single fingerprint at all! Of course, that was a joke. I wiped down his whole bathroom coz I just couldn't use the shower anymore. There I was on my holiday, and I was out at the supermarket getting cleaning agents to scrub down the house. Since then, whenever friends hear that I'm coming-a-visiting, they will usually do bathroom inspections first. 

Ok, those were the days before the kids came along. Now my standard of hygiene is not up there anymore. Or rather my tolerance for filth has overtaken my idiosyncrasy. So don't expect me to clean your bathroom or house when you have me over as guest. Be realistic, I'll be bringing crumbs along... I mean, kids! My kids will be bringing crumbs along. If not, they'll make some on the spot. 

2) The one about keeping scores

I love to play games... but I suck at keeping scores. I can play a winning game (erm, not keeping scores, but I win. See the contradiction?). Yet whenever anyone mentions about keeping scores, my hands will start to jitter, my heart will be pumping at its maximum, I will start to hyperventilate and then... bam! I lose the game! Whatever game... it can be badminton, tennis, computer games or even mahjong... I crack easily under pressure. I mean, I totally disintegrate. 

3) The one about truancy

The first time I skipped a class, I was 19 when I was at the uni. And I loved it!!! Ha... Yep, my partner in crime and I decided to give our lecture a miss and go do some shopping instead. How did we like it? We wondered why we didn't start with truancy any earlier! So ultra sad... P.A.T.H.E.T.I.C. 

4) The one about dirty laundries

I hate doing laundries with a vengeance. First I got to separate the clothes... the colours... dump them into the washing machine. Sort them out again before I dump them into the dryer. Hang up those that cannot be tumbled in the dryer. Then fold the clothes... and finally put the clothes back into the closet/cupboards/drawers... whatever! And as I'm doing this meme now, I'm running back and forth between my room and the laundry room... HATE it! 

Let me scrub the bathroom floor ANYTIME! 

5) The one about going solo

I was always on stage as a kid and a teenager... a performer of sort. In primary school, I danced... a lot. And finally when I became a senior and I got my first solo, my mom made me quit my ECA. She thought I should be concentrating on PSLE. So can you imagine what ECA points I got? Nothing! For being in the cultural dance club from P1 to P6 (half year)! Luckily ECA points weren't a big thing then. 

During my secondary school days, I was busy with the Chinese Orchestra. Always on stage, backstage, but never in front of the stage to enjoy a concert, not once did I get to be an audience on Founder's Day, Youth's Day, Teachers' Day, School Concert Night, Chinese New Year Concert or National Day Celebration... sigh! Anywayz, this time, I got another opportunity to perform solo again. Luckily for my ego, my mom didn't make me drop out, even though it was the O level's year. Otherwise I would have been devastated! 

6) The one about a TV/newspaper celebrity... just a little one. 

Hee... can you believe it? I had a little air time on national TV when I took part in a competition at Primary 3. Do you still remember the Chinese quiz show for Primary School Students? Yep I was one of them!!! :p

I was in a little column too when a newspaper journalist interviewed me. Ok, no proof now... But I'm sure my parents still have the newspaper clipping somewhere.  Be sure to ask them for it when you meet them! ;) 

There... my random of 6. 

Let's cross over to Simple Abundance and Adventures of Babybel and read what others have to say about their 6's. Helen and Ivana, you have just been tagged. 

going public...

bACk in Germany can be accessed on the Internet again! Yep... I'm opening up my blog, so please be kind with your comments, ok? My dear fellow readers, you won't have to keep logging in or keying in password to access my blog anymore. No more hassle, right? 

Don't ask me why this decision now... Maybe it's coz I think we won't be bACk in Germany for long now. 

 

first movies...

Bryan's first movie ever was Ratatouille. He was about 4 years and 3 months old. He sat in the cinema flanked by Mom and Dad. Still, half way through the film, he cried. Daddy quickly swooped him off his seat and brought him out for some fresh air. 5 minutes later, he was back in the theatre again. Except for that little hiccup, Bryan managed to sit through the whole movie. 

Kristin's first movie ever was Madagascar 2. She was about 3 years and 3 months old. A whole year younger than Bryan. I didn't expect her to sit through. But she did! Not once did she scream, nor was she clingy... she sat on her own. Actually, she stood for some time. Swayed between Bryan's and my seat. Then she sat some more, ate popcorns, while her eyes were still fixed on the big screen. And when the music came on, she had no qualms to jump off from her seat and dance! No tears, no fears! Hurrah! Looks like Mommy can go for a movie more often now! With the kids. 

The theatre was almost just ours. Bryan, Kristin and I with Bryan's friend and his friend's mom. There were a couple sitting right at the back. How cool was that? It was private viewing! 

baking, history and life in transit

When I had the ingredients of the carrot cake recipe (thanks to Monica) in my mixing bowl, I had no idea that it was gonna be the last time I was baking. In our cosy nest while we were bACk in Germany. This was the weekend before we moved into the service apartment. 

Instead of a 65 sq m apartment (one sleeping room, one living area, a nice dining table with chairs and a complete kitchen with an oven and a dishwasher), the hotel manager made us an even better offer. We got two stand alone apartments (40 sq m each) for the same price! 

I don't know why he suddenly made us that offer.

Perhaps the 65 sq m place was too new. And we have two very young kids who might start doodling on their brand new leather couches. (Not that I condone that kind of activities in my family). 

Or maybe this manager took pity on us. With the 65 sq m, it would mean the kids get to sleep in the bedroom, while Alan and I have to sleep in the living area on our own air-mattress. 

Anyhow, the kids welcome the idea of two stand alone apartments too. I think Bryan was thrilled to have his own room. Well, not exactly his own, he's got to share it with his sister. 

I was voted out... although I thought an oven and a dishwasher were more important than a decent place for me to sleep! And that's so true. I don't know how much time/energy/water I've wasted ever since I started to hand-wash my dishes again. Time/energy/water that could have been better utilized. The skin on my hands wouldn't be dry as prunes, I could do better with resting, blogging and catching my US series online. 

What am I gonna do in Singapore without a dishwasher? 

How's baking gonna be like without a dishwasher? 

One good news though: I will be working only two days a week, starting from Feb 2009. 

a whirlwind of sort...

It's been quite hectic since I last posted anything on the blog. 

The stress started on the 10th of this month. As if it wasn't stressful enough, the kids had the first two days of that week off! So packing was reduced to the minimal, only the essentials were to leave for the service apartment by Wednesday evening. After the 12th, I was deep in packing, going back and forth between the service apartment and our flat in Westend. It had been a terrible 1.5 weeks for the kids too. I put them in daycare everyday till 5.30 pm. Thank God there was no hiccups, though Kristin was already having a little runny nose just one day before the movers arrived, on the 18th. 

It was quite an ordeal... with the packing during the day and the caring of the kids at the end of the day. I can't tell you how much I resented them every time I picked them up 5.30 pm. They were cranky, hungry and tired. Still, Alan and I gritted our teeth, pressed on and fell right into bed every night. So if anyone of you has insomnia, try moving house and caring for young kids all at once. You'll sleep like a babe every night, I promise! 

The big day finally came - November the 18th. The men arrived at 9 am. One German, one Ghanian and two Italians. Definitely happy with the combination. In fact, I was secretly happy coz I had good faith that all our things would fit into one 20 ft container. Coz anything above that volume wasn't within our entitlement anymore, and that would mean we would have to dig into our pockets to ship boxes back to Singapore. 

The Italians were the best, esp this guy Toni. I think he's a genius. He's like a puzzle wizard. Anything from dismantling to packing and stacking, he used up every inch of space available. That all our things fit into one container, we definitely had Toni to thank for! 

Prior to our big day, I heard lots of horror stories about movers. So other than herding our things together, I packed some, bagged some, and even took pictures of the bigger items. Yep... lots of preparation work. And perhaps I overdid a little. In the end, the movers spent 6 hours the 1st day packing at our place and 2.5 hours on the 2nd day. And another 1.5 hours to reload our things onto an actual 20 ft container. They were out of Frankfurt by 1 pm on Nov 19th! 

The kids weren't sentimental at all when I showed them the empty apartment that afternoon. Al wasn't at all sad either... I was the only one grieving over the end of my Westend days! 

 

The kitchen - the place where I spent most part of the day in... other than the time I spent at the desk online.

This kitchen was brand new... and I think I left it pretty brand new too after 3 years! :) It doesn't mean I didn't cook. It just meant I maintained it well. And I have my Putzfrau to thank for such a wonderful condition. 

The dining area - our family area, where we ate, talked, did homework, craftwork, painted, drew, playdoh-ed, played games, baked, cut cookies, decorated cupcakes, read, wrote, sang, drank etc. Oh... how not to miss this place? 

More pics to follow when I find time and space to breathe from this whirlwind... 

missing germany #10

It was a good friend's birthday today. I was invited to a great brunch, and an even greater company of moms. 

These days I've been asked pretty often how I feel towards returning to Singapore. 

My standard answer: a mixed feeling of happy and sad. 

The happy's: 

1) I'll have help... lots of help from grandparents. 

2) I don't have to worry about my kids catching a cold. No more thick winter clothes. 

3) My kids will finally learn how to read and write! Yay! No need to pretend that I pseudo-homeschool. which I don't anyway. 

4) I can go for affordable spa treatments! 

5) No need to cook every day if I don't feel up to. Food is everywhere! 

The sad's: 

1) No more Own Time Own Target mentality. Gotta return to the workforce. 

2) No more suka-suka lunch with this mom or that mom, or extended birthday brunches. 

3) No more shopping in the quiet morning hours, e.g. 9.30 am at supermarket, or 10 am at shopping malls, trying on shoes and clothes! 

4) No more quiet moments... Frankfurt is after all a small place, compared with the over-crowded Singapore. 

5) No more cool, dry weather... back to the steam-bath Singapore, perspiring all day long! 

6) No more fun picnics with my kids in our backyard Botanical Gdns. 

7) No more bake sales in the preschool to occupy a couple of my mornings. 

8) No more lack of homework from the preschool. 

9) No more sledding in winter. 

10) No more strawberry picking in the summer. 

11) No more no more no more no more no more... 

Aiyoh... so many the sad's???!!! 

Ok... I know you moms in Singapore will cheer me up. Yeah, give me more happy's to look forward to... 

At the very least, there's always the FREE beach! 

travelling around the world...

 I got my new lens today! Yeah, Alan's back. 

Haven't got much time to test it out though... 

So here are some buses going places! 

I'll be MIA for the next couple of weeks... together with these couple of buses, sort of. In reality, these buses will be en route to Singapore soon. Aiyah...  don't know where I need to start packing! I hate packing, I hate moving, I hate it I hate it I hate it! 

I've been changing my address so often since I was 19... This will, ermmm, be my 13th time getting another postal code! But that doesn't make me a seasoned packer/mover... In fact, I've accumulated some boxes in my parents', brother's and our own home in Singapore, they are still unpacked. 

By far, I've kept this present address the longest... Sure am gonna miss our place here, especially those fun times with my kids here... 

appointments on Monday again... note to self

SCHOOL IS CLOSED ON MONDAY! 

Yep, just when I need the kids to be out of my way to pack! Arrrggh, this is an extremely long weekend! 4 days!!! If this was last year, we would be taking a mini vacation in some exciting spot in Central Europe! 

8 am - Floor guy will come to check our floor.

11 am - Parent-Teacher-Conference with Kristin's teacher

11.40am - Parent-Teacher-Conference with Bryan's teacher

Rest of the day - PACK AWAY BOOKS AND TOYS! 

Also to note: SCHOOL IS CLOSED ON TUESDAY too!!! 

what I've been up to...

putting my dslr to good use! 

Can you forgive me: I am ditching blogging to sell furniture!

Pur-lease... we'll be moving back to Singapore soon... have some sympathy on me, sniff! I just realised we could have sold our extra bed a few weeks earlier, i.e. as soon as we knew we could move out of our apartment at the end of November... So stupid... 

Actually it was quite crucial... the timeline was more or less set by when we could move out of our present apartment. For the past 6 months, we thought we could live in our present place until the very last week. Then all of a sudden in September, my husband decided we couldn't since we would be without most of our furniture: no beds, TV, toys and books for the kids... how can??? No kitchen wares for cooking too! So it's a more practical solution for us to stay in a serviced apartment in our last six weeks here in Frankfurt. 

Yes, this needs to be done. Otherwise the movers couldn't come six weeks before our departure. And we wouldn't be able to get our stuff back in Singapore in time to start up our household. 

ken lee, anyone?

This was one of our most hilarious moments when we were in London. You see, Alan and his friends were talking about the funniest videos on youtube ever. And this one can be considered the most viewed clip in the past 8 months. So why don't we up the count some more here... 

Enjoy! 

k for kristin

I had an opportunity to chat with Kristin's teacher yesterday. 

Surprisingly, I heard so many good things about my daughter - things that I wouldn't have imagined, e.g. she could get her letters, numbers, colours and shapes right for her assessment. 

The parent-teacher-conference is next Monday, and the teachers in the preschool have been assessing the children for the past couple of weeks. 

She's apparently considered advance for her age. 

Hmmm, I thought, really? Coz I know she'll get a cultural shock when she gets back to a Singaporean kindergarten. 

Last night, it's been interesting to see how much she wanted to do "work". Thus I handed her a workbook of letters to trace. 

Apparently, doing work helps sleep!!! She went to bed without any protest by 9.15 pm, and that's after her 2 hours nap in the afternoon. Usually, she waltzes in and out of the bedroom. But I can tell she's sleep deprived. Cranky, most of the time when I pick her up in the preschool and she falls asleep as soon as she's in the car. Especially terrible during dinner time. 

I wish I could restart my routine training... sigh, no discipline now, no time, no energy and lots of packing to do. 

Here are a couple of clips of a happy Kristin: 

sonja and bryan

  

Bryan enjoys being with Sonja, even though the age difference is 8 years. Bryan speaks really little German, while Sonja is too shy to use her English. 

My son was just being freaking irritating with the "Laterne" song, in preparation of St Martin's Day here. That much of German he knows. 

"Laterne, Laterne

Sonne, Mond und Sterne

Brenne auf mein Licht, brenne auf mein Licht

Nur meine liebe Laterne nicht." 

just for laughs...

That's my cutesy sweetie pie at Tower Hill, London with her silly facial expressions and some shortbread crumbs. Mmmmmh butter! She said. 

appointments on Monday... note to self

8.45 am - Send the kids to kindergarten.

10 am - The painter/floor guy will come and survey our apartment and give a cost estimate for the reno work after we vacate our place. 

While waiting for the other appointment, I need to set up an appointment with the pediatrician and another with the orthopedist. 

12.30 nn - Some guy will come in to replace the reading gadgets on the radiators in our apartment.

3.45 pm Pick the kids up from the kindergarten. 

5 pm - The guy from the movers company will come to drop off special boxes for books, bubble wraps and tapes. 

Where's my gym time??? I should have terminated my gym membership even earlier! 

-----------------------------

Note change of appointment: Painter coming in at 6 pm instead of 10.30am! 

@#&*!!! Like I have all day free! 

school photos in fall...

This is what I'll miss when I go back to Sg. 

The preschool here arranges with a professional photographer to come in to take pictures of the kids twice a year, once in autumn and once in spring. It's so great to be able to look back at how our kids have grown over our three years here. Kristin only has three of these shots taken, while Bryan has five different ones. 

Kristin, looking frumpy despite her haircut at the hair-dresser's. Look at her unbuttoned shirt! 

We gave Bryan a nice shirt underneath his blazer and in the end, he wore only his thermal underwear under the blazer! 

He looks almost the same as he did 2 years ago in this post, minus the baby fat and chubby cheeks. 

Kristin is certainly looking chubby. Check out those chunky arms! And I complain she doesn't eat...? Erb... good thing she doesn't eat much! Maybe it's all the Pocky sticks! 

back in Sg...

yes, but just Daddy only. He's back for some work. 

This is his third flight this week. Really siong... You have my sympathy. I think my struggle to put the kids to bed by 9 pm isn't half as bad as your deal. 

addition...

Nothing about PSLE nor Singapore Math... 

We are way behind those schedules here.

While waiting for Daddy to clear up some work at the office this afternoon, Bryan was gamely entertained by sums! How rare! 

Single digit addition isn't too difficult for him anymore... so I decided to give him a double digit and a single digit to add each time e.g. 13+4 or 17+2 or 15+3 etc... very simple and basic stuff still. 

After a while, my son told me it was again too easy for him! 

Why? 

That's because he's been using a manipulative - a ruler! 

He showed me, "You see Mom, the number 13 here. Then just count forward four times, and you get 17! So easy!" 

Cheater-bug! 

He's lucky that the ruler measures up to 30 cm for this time. 

Ok... I have to admit that I've been given some hope that there might just be a chance for him to catch up with Sg Math... slowly, of course, if he continues to add with a ruler! 

16 more days...

to the move! 

Omigosh omigosh omigosh omigosh omigosh omigosh omigosh... 

happy halloween!

"Trick or treat, smell my feet, 

Give me something good to eat..."

Bryan the Power Ranger! 

Have you ever seen such a sweet lil' devil? 

Devilish cheeky smile... 

A lollipop bouquet! 

The kids' hard work... They were walking around in the Siedlung trick-or-treating from 6pm to 8pm, in the dark and in the cold! 

London and eats...

We always put on weight whenever we're in London... 

How not to when: 

1) Bryan ate 4 char siew paus at each dim sum session! 

2) Daddy had ducks for three consecutive meals! 

3) Mommy loved all her dim sum treats and Indian curries! 

4) Kristin... erm, she didn't even finish her milk! But hmm, I think she also put on weight for all the shortbreads she gobbled down. I just had to tell her, This is just butter! 

We didn't manage to go to Yauyatcha. But after hearing so much about Hakkasan, Alan and I decided to go check out this 1-Michelin-Star restaurant. Indeed, we weren't at all disappointed! 

This was our favourite of the day, Scallop Siew Mai with fish roe: 

I thought this Cheong Fun was quite special too, with crispy beancurd skin as the inner layer, wrapping mushroom and bamboo pith: 

And this was Bryan drawing furiously before his Char Siew Paus came... 

Can't say that Hakkasan was better than Yauyatcha since we never been to the other restaurant before. But that will surely be a reason for us to be back in London again, right? :) 

Also... thanks to all those friends who recommended Pearl Liang. I think I just found the world's best duck there (ok, I admit I'm not much of duck fan). Certainly the queue and poor service at Four Seasons isn't all that worth it anymore. Just head over to Paddington for a nice treat in peace and with a lot of space! 

More on London to follow... IF I can find time amidst packing... 

missing germany #9

This is my lovely cleaning lady from Poland - Halina. She speaks almost no German and I don't know a single word of Polish other than "dzine dobry"! But we managed to communicate somehow, in the simplest of German and I have never been disappointed by her housekeeping power for the past 2.5 years. 

Yep, for the first half year, I was struggling to clean my house, cook meals, do laundry, iron my husband's business shirts while I was nursing a then 3 month-old Kristin. What would normally take 2 hours max (e.g. vacuuming the floor, mopping, cleaning the bathroom and toilets) would become a never ending ordeal. I dreaded when it was the cleaning day - my self-induced stress. I've always had this tick of having my whole place wiped down at least once every week. Household chores were never a big deal to me and my brother. I think my mom excelled in this department - my brother and I used to clean for my mom once every week as soon as we were in secondary schools. This habit has accompanied us throughout lives that even in the most stressful exam periods while I was overseas, I never had a dirty bathroom! Thus when I couldn't clean like I would love to in the earlier days of our posting here, I was M.I.S.E.R.A.B.L.E.! I was stressed. I think I even had post-natal depressions because of that! 

Things changed when Halina came into my life here. Strangely, I had to outsource the department that I was most comfortable with! Cleaning and cooking had never been a problem for me, while the other C in the chemical makeup of a SAHM was something I struggled and am still struggling most with, namely Childcare! But that one - cannot outsource lah! Yes, I complain and whine about my kids, yet I won't want to return to working full-time. It's not hard to guess where my heart is. :)

Back to Halina: I wish I could tell her how much she meant to me during our stay here in Frankfurt. I know, no amount of Polish I know would help me express that - that's because I know none. Still, if I could speak perfect Polish, I wouldn't find enough words to thank her... I do hope she'll continue to find employment... I felt terribly sorry when I told her that we were leaving soon. If only I could have her come along to Singapore too... 

frankfurter bookfair

Somehow it slipped my mind completely to blog about the book fair this year. Nothing spectacular, since Sterling wasn't giving away free books plus there were many many other organisations present to collect books for a good cause e.g. Some representatives from the American English Library were there speaking to each stall to ask for a donation of books. I saw an African man with huge stacks of books. He claimed that he'd be sending the books back to Africa. Alan was skeptical when I told him about it. "Are you sure he's not selling them in Africa?" 

Here's our take from this year's book fair. We weren't so crazy this year. 

In preparation for our last extended weekend at the end of November before we leave Germany for good: 

reading "green eggs and ham" again...

Let this be the official day that marks Bryan's independent reading. 

Ever since he turned 5, he's been found sitting in a corner each day... at several intervals of the day with a book. It's usually Tintin or a Berenstain Bear. I have long stopped reading to the kids. Now it's a rare time when Mommy actually reads a book with them, and it's usually when Daddy's not home. Yet, I haven't had plenty opportunities to slack this month either, since there will always be a couple of nights when Alan's not around each week. In fact, I think his successor probably sees more of him over the past couple of months than the kids and I do! 

Anyway, as the story goes... Tonight was yet another one of those Daddy's-out-nights. So guess who did the reading tonight? Me? Lucky me... it was Bryan! Finally and thankfully, Mommy can now skive, officially! 

I told Bryan I was only keen on reading Dr Seuss' Green Eggs and Ham. Then Bryan told me he could do it. In fact, he's done it before in preschool during daycare. Apparently, he's been reading it to another girl. Trying to woo one with poetry already? Not eliminating that possibility there... haha! Even his sister vouched for him! "Yeah, Mommy. He's reading to Miranda!"

So in a whole sitting, he finished the entire book. "Am I not fantastic, Mom? See, I told you I could read it all by myself!"

Yes, I'm mightily proud of him, taking even more pride in his effort to finish all 62 pages at one shot! Ok... I won't call him a lazy bum anymore. 

By the way, I did realise some interesting cues he draws from reading... I mean the non-verbal communications, e.g. When he saw a couple of horizontal lines coming out of the character's mouth in the drawings, he told me, "Oh, he's shouting a bit here." So he raised his volume and pretended he was shouting out loud while reading. Next, he saw some words printed all in upper case. And he told me again, "Oh, there he goes again. Shouting!"

Pretty interesting what he picks up from the non-verbal signs. Guess comic books are brilliant for such things. Yep, more Tintin it will certainly be... I think it's also high time to re-introduce The Electric Company dvds. 

Yep... think most moms are right on this one... just leave the child alone and sooner or later, he'll pick up reading! Ok, more later for our case. Still loads better than "never", I guess. And really... phew! Because we'll be heading back to Singapore (where kids are already reading by 3 or 4 years of age) in a couple of months! Oops... in fact I need to fret about Kristin! Now I've found the new object of my obsession! Here we go again... 

talking about London...

Mommy: What are you going to do in London?

Bryan: Eat Char Siew Pau's. Many Char Siew Pau's! 

Mommy: Whom did we meet the last time when we were in London? 

Bryan: Gan-die and gan-ma! We stayed with them. 

Mommy: Did we meet any kids? 

Bryan, Thought for a while: oh yeah yeah... Sean. I met Sean. 

Mommy: What about Sean's mommy? Do you remember her? 

Bryan: Oh yeah yeah yeah... But I can't remember her name. 

Sorry Aunty Lilian, you're not a kid. Bryan can't remember your name. :p

it's been a while...

and I've been kept busy with life outside the apartment. :) 

A couple days of sunshine will mean I'll rather be outdoors than indoors. 

We flew kites, walked in the woods, picked walnuts, had some playground time with a cute little girl from Malaysia. 

There was also the Frankfurt Bookfair. Will post about it later on. 

Above all, I'm up to date with all the US series again! :) 

Well, not a lot, just following a few, e.g. 

1) Brothers and Sisters

2) Desperate Housewives

3) CSI 

4) CSI NY

5) Bones

6) Boston Legal

7) Without a Trace

8) Grey's Anatomy

9) Private Practice

10) Heroes

Oops... it doesn't look like a few here... :s

Of course, I've been waiting for The Starter Wife to return too. 

trick or treat...

"Trick or treat, smell my feet, 

Give me something good to eat. 

Otherwise, I don't care, 

I'll go down your underwear." 

Bryan learnt this chant from one of his friends in school. He's very tickled by it and has been repeating it for the sake of irritating me at home most of the time. 

Tonight, I decided to make some improvisation with the kids.

So we had a few variations, 

"Trick or treat, stomp your feet, 

Give me something good to eat. 

Otherwise, I don't care, 

I'll snip off your pretty hair!" 

or 

"Trick or treat, stinky feet, 

Give me something good to eat. 

Otherwise, I don't care, 

I'll turn into a hungry bear!"

or

"... I'll give you a hungry bear."

Yep Halloween is near, and I haven't got any costumes yet. Arrggghhh... 

a hammock is a hammock is a hammock...

How do you pronounce the word "hammock"? 

Alan and I both say, "ham" and "mock", thus "hammock".

But Bryan corrected us, "No! It's hammock!" You know, like how the Americans would pronounce stomach, with an inverted e in IPA. 

Anyway, if you don't believe me, try the link to the Free Online Dictionary. 

Ok.... is this a case of orang utan and hammock now? 

Hope to post a video footage soon. 

After note: 

Just looked up the Cambridge Online Dictionary. 

hammock is pronounced /hæm.ək/.

So Bryan's right.

According to Daddy, Bryan said he heard it on Caillou long time ago and couldn't imagine how we could have doubted him. Alamak, he's such a PBS kid! How would we know? We never grew up with Caillou!

hey I'm sweet!

This conversation took place when I was changing Kristin on Friday evening. 

K: Mommy, I'm sweet. 

M: Yeah, you're sweet. 

I paused for a while and I thought if I had been feeding my daughter's vain ego. 

M: Who told you that you're sweet? 

K: Miss Alka. Miss Alka says I'm a sweet girl! So sweet! 

Ouch... toothache! 

Btw, Miss Alka is Kristin's teacher this year. Miss Alka once told me that she wouldn't mind having twenty Kristin's in her class. I suppose that's a compliment. But I told Miss Alka, things aren't quite the same at home and I wouldn't be wishing for twenty Kristin's! 

romancing the weekend...

Here's to a great weekend for everyone! Enjoy... 

romancing@siesmayer-ffm.de

The ambience... 

The table... 

The food... 

The couple...? Not her... me! Behind the camera! 

The flowers... 

The glass... 

The place... 

that we will definitely miss...