Sand, surf & sewing too.

To those who asked "What happened?" refering to my absence since the last post.....no, we didn't get lost. Just that it is quite hard to get back into blogging after all this time! And even harder, to select from over 2000 photos that we took!

We traveled for a few weeks & am now home safely to Tokyo. Did take turns being sick but & are all happily healthy again. School has started as did the usual morning frenzy & day's hecticness. Annika is now in 4th Grade & Niklas is in 6th.

First, we were in Germany. In Hamburg where we had excitement in the Miniature Train Museum ito see the biggest collection in the world, of mock-up railways (see previous post).

Then we were in Sylt, the northenmost German island, off the coast of Denmark.

To get onto this island, we had to put the car (with us in it) onto a railway built on a dam linking the island to Germany, as there are no direct roads.

Sometimes, we put the car on a ferry, from the coast of Denmark. We zoomed past horses, sheep, hay rolls & the North Sea. A few days ago, the winds in this area was so strong, it blew a truck (yes! truck!) off this railroad!!!

On Sylt, you can explore.
Moto-crossing on cute bikes.
Jump off dunes.

Ride horses.
Bury your sister while she sleeps.
Be just plain silly!

Hand-sew applique placemats,
these patchwork scarves
& a couple of hexagon-cosy/mousepad.

From Germany, we went to Singapore (photos later) before heading home to Tokyo.. where this parcel (wrapped up in a pretty paisley fabric) was waiting - a wonderful gift from wonderful Eileen - it was like Christmas!

One of the "problem" about living here is the difficulty in getting English magazines like this. I do have quite a good collection of Japanese craft books & magazines but still, it is fabulous to be able to read & not just figure out from the pictures & diagrams!

We are enjoying Eileen's goodies so much, even the "junk mail" which I love!

...choo...choo...!!

There are fire scenes with houses emitting smoke & little fire trucks dashing to the scene. Teensy houses & figures, cars & trees, hills & valleys, night & day, lots of tracks, over 800 trains, more than 500 moving cars & ships,

You can see a football match (left), mini people gambling in Las Vegas, hiking in the alps or Grand Canyon, or rowing on Norwegian fjords. Even a CSI scene complete with a teensy dead body in the river (top pic)!

Photos don't really do the place justice so do take time to click on this video to see what I mean.

This place was created by 2 brothers with a big passions for trains. It covers over 4000 sq metres (43,000 sq ft) from Scandinavia to USA, from coasts to mountains. And it is still expanding! The lighting also changes to depict day & night! Yes, I am beginning to sound like the brochure as I am referring to it.

Let the fun begin!

We are hectically preparing to leave for a few weeks' traveling. Our annual summer vacation to Germany to visit one German Oma & to Singapore to visit a Chinese Po-Po.

When the children were smaller, you don't need to wait for summer & travel with the crowd. Now that they are learning serious stuff in school, we can only travel during their school holidays.

Besides Hamburg where Oma lives, we'll go north of Germany, to the island of Sylt with its endless white beaches & enormous sand dunes. Here, as babies, the children were christianed in a 800 year old church, St Severin. There are no roads linking Germany to this island. To get there, you put the car on a train from the German coast or a ferry from Denmark. This journey by itself, is already quite an adventure!

Before we leave Tokyo, a message to both grandpa who are watching over us. Many times, Annika wishes that her Grandpas would live again. When I explain the unlikelihood, she tells me "But Mama, you say there's always a first time for everything".

Meanwhile, she writes to them via balloon-mail, wishing them well & telling them that we will be away. I told her that heaven is getting quite congested with balloons from children.

Annika wears a homemade blouse made from curtain fabric. I couldn't resist buying 3 metres (!!!). It has delicate leaf-prints, scallop edges & big cut-out holes for curtain-rods to go through. Makes it easy for me to loop green cotton cords through. Simple to make & finished in 30 minutes!

So goodbye too, to our neighbourhood, to this pretty mailbox, couple of restaurants & a teapot/teacup shop.

And these expensive fruits :

US$15 for one watermelon.

US$6 for a rock melon.

We will be stuffing ourselves full with reasonable-priced tropical fruits in sunny Singapore!

Goodbye, little pretty sweets which look better than they tasted.

And before we fly off, I finished & delivered these custom-ordered aprons.

Happy Summer everyone.

We might be missing

from here, for awhile.

Stay cool !

This last pic is from last summer.

In 2008, enroute to Germany & Singapore, we had a smashing RV adventure in beautiful parts of Arizona, Utah, Nevada & California.