From climbing in Beijing to sewing in Tokyo.

Back from Beijing & back to the usual hecticness of daily life. While in Beijing, my blog & almost all of yours too, was on their restricted list so I couldn't publish nor visit any blogs when I was in Beijing. And now, getting back again to posting is always hard for me. Had meant to post earlier but.....life happens :) .

As usual, whenever I'm extremely busy...I sew!...which I am sure makes sense to a number of you!

For the first time ever, I sewed on a zipper. Never thought I would, as just the idea of a zippered project, brings on headaches.

First, I looked at some Japanese craft books with pretty pics & wonderfully illustrated patterns. Then, I gave up on the patterns which always give me headaches too!.

So I start cutting & sewing. Not sure sure how I did it ..... but here's my zippered box pouch & since I am no longer afraid of zippers, I've made more!

Also made a large-sized Diaper-Case plus Changing-Mat for a nice new-mama-to-be.

The padded fabric design had illustrations from "Momotaro" (The Peach Boy), a Japanese tale of an old couple who longed for a baby & he came to them one day, inside a giant peach which was floating down the river. Hence, "Momotaro".

The darker oilcloth design had multi-coloured "Kokeshi" girls. These fabrics were carefully chosen to prepare for a baby girl or boy!

And I finally found time to go to the post office, to mail off some goodies for bloggies - good, kind folks whom I have been lucky enough to get to know. Enjoy!

So where are the Beijing pics??? Will show you when I can decide among the thousands that we took! Meanwhile, here's peeking at you from an ancient doorway on the Great Wall !

A Wall & some distractions.

We have left these houses & our own real house to go climb a wall.

Climbing a wall : It has always been my dream to bring our kids to China, as they are also part Chinese. My husband & I have been to Beijing a number of times, way back before we had the kids & also before we know each other. This will be the first time we are there, as a complete family.

This week is our autumn break so when you are reading this.....we will be in Beijing, climbing the Great Wall of China (长城/万里长城 Wàn Lǐ Cháng Chéng) !

The Great Wall, built over 2000 years ago, stands for the wisdom, tenacity & spirit of the Chinese people. I was pretty emotional the first time I stood on that Wall, one spring day, many years ago.

Legends of the Great Wall : Many died during the construction & they were buried under it. These "convenient" burials save funeral expenses, save building materials (good, environment friendly bones) & also, bones help "deep fertilize" the wall, making the roots of plants go deep, thus protecting the Great Wall foundations. And I thought roots would wreck foundations but what do I know!

Most all, according to Chinese beliefs : the spirits of those who died for the Great Wall, made it stronger. The Wall is 6400 Kilometres, about 4000 miles long.

And contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall cannot be seen from the moon. It is hardly recognizable from 65,617 feet high. It is totally invisible at a height of 196,850 feet, not to mention from a space ship whose orbital altitude is on average 1,312,333 feet high. So sadly, to say that an astronaut can see the Great Wall is merely an exaggeration.

Click HERE, to see a dizzy 360 degree

panoramic view of the Great Wall.

Sewing : While preparing for this trip, we were sidetracked so many times! I am in the middle of an exciting swap with a fabulous crafty blogger-mom (hi Laurie!) & as she wished for Japanese fabric scraps, I had to start organising my messy lots of scraps.

While sorting, we were so distracted by the colours & made these patchwork items instead of packing. And now, we have new colourful cushion covers to replace the boring old yellow ones, more fabric houses & other cheerful things!

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.

Gong Xi Fa Cai ! And a mother on a break . . .

As you read this, I'm in Singapore!

This past Christmas, a present from my sweet family is : one week's holiday & air ticket to Singapore, to spend Chinese New Year with my mother!

My husband is taking this week off from work, to do my "mothering" duties as the children still has school here in Tokyo. Meanwhile I will not drive, clean nor cook for a week! The last time I had a 4 day break was about 7 years ago when the kids were in Kindergarten & Annika was a toddler. Then, it was a 4 days & a ticket for Hongkong & I had missed my family so much, I called my kids 5 times each day!

Annika who has waist-long hair that needs to be tied or plaited on sports & swimming days said "who's going to do my hair?". We told her "you'll just have to get your hair cut!". Ha! Ha! In reality, my husband has been practising on Annika's hair - first, spray some oil to detangle the wavy hair, comb through starting from the ends, comb please & not yank, tie firmly & not loose.

Year of the Ox : 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997.

The Chinese Zodiac Calendar is based on a 12 year cycle. Our Niklas who was born in 1997 will be 12 years old this year. So will Mary Kate's daughter, Emilea, over in Malaysia!

Those born in the Ox years are : reliable, sincere, cool, patient, meticulous, tireless, dedicated, obedient, neat, unpretentious, modest, fond of solitude, faithful, good listener, traditional, systematic in a conventional way. Yep...amazingly, this pretty much describes my son!

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Xin Nian Kuai Le!
Wishing you luck & prosperity! Happy New Year!