35th Birthday

Last Saturday was my 35th birthday and I celebrated it in Melbourne.

Hubby had suggested a balloon flight on that day. However, we would have to leave the house like 4am to drive to the destination for the balloon flight. In the wee hours, the temperature would be around 3-4 degrees and I don't think KK has the right amount of thick clothes. So I counter-proposed that maybe we should postpone it till spring or summer when the weather is not so cold. This way, perhaps XX can also join us then.

The eve before my birthday, I was surprised by mid-night birthday cake. The friends that I put up with had bought a durian cake for me. By 11pm, I was actually putting KK to bed and ready to sleep myself. But around mid-night, I remembered KK still hasn't brushed his teeth so I ushered him out to the bathroom while I went to the toilet. When I came out of the toilet, KK was nowhere to be seen. That's when I noticed that Hubby and Ken were also suspiciously missing. The 2 ladies watching TV in the living room gave a hesitant 'don't know' when I asked them if they know where KK is. I heard voices in Ken's room and went there to ask if KK is inside. The door opened and I see my son holding a candle-lit birthday cake!

Honestly, I kind of suspected it when KK let the cat out of the bag earlier to me. He told me excitedly he has a surprise for me but he's not telling me. Well, I had thought it was for the next day and didn't expect it to be so soon. I also received 2 cards, one of them from Hubby. In fact, there was a bouquet of flowers too from Hubby, but he forgot about it because he had hidden it outside. So I only received it the next morning. Out of sight, out of mind...that's Men! But it's ok, it was a nice to see the bouquet when I woke up, kind of makes the special day lasts longer.

That was about all the highlights of my big day. By the way, the durian cake tasted superb. I didn't expect you could find durian cake in Australia! I spent the actual day itself doing really normal stuff like shopping and errands. Not that I was in much of a celebratory mood either. There's too much errands and shopping to be completed in preparation for the big move.

It occurred to me just that my new age has now classified me as 'high risk' mother-to-be, if I were ever to get pregnant again. That's a milestone.

The Good Deals and Good Guys

The last 2 days of our trip to Melbourne were of two different extremes, in terms of tasks achieved.

Tuesday, the 2nd last day, Hubby managed to get his Victorian license. This enabled him to get our new car registered. On top of these, I did quite a bit of shopping, getting stuff like moisturisers, gentle facial cleansers and quilt covers. I managed to get some really good deals - Aussino kids single quilt cover set for $19.90 each and a Manhatten satin/sequinned queen quilt cover set for $29.00. The best buy was XX's car seat for only $83.90 at Target. It was a discontinued model, so explains the price. This price was comparable to some 2nd hand ones sold on E-bay and it's brand new. We decided not to bring our current car seat over as it was too bulky and already quite old and tattered, used since KK was born.

Wednesday, our last day, was really unproductive and a series of disappointments. I thought I could continue my shopping spree. I saw a K-mart sale catelogue and there were really cool deals for bed sheets, crockery and mattress protectors. However, it was only later that I read that the sale would only begin on Thursday! Oh man!

We also went to do my Victorian license but did not complete it as my credit card (one of the secondary documents they needed) do not have my exact name on it. The difference is only a spacing, but they're that strict! Bloody!

After an expensive but quite delicious Chinese lunch, we continued shopping for fridge and washing machines. We were eyeing some models already and comparing prices. I was hopeful that we'll ink some good deals today after we make a trip to our rental place to measure the dimensions of the space. Unfortunately, Ken needed his GPS back today for a last minute appointment. Without 'Gloria' and a map, we do not know the exact route to our new place. (Now we know how much we depended on 'Gloria'...) Hubby thus decided to purchase our own GPS since we'll need one eventually. He selected a model at The Good Guys but decided to compare prices at Harvey Norman. It turned out that The Good Guys price was indeed better so we went back. However, after completing the transaction, there were problems with using it. We exchanged for another one but that didn't work either. After 1.5 hours and trying 4 different machines, The Good Guys concluded that the whole batch was faulty. We didn't want to upgrade for another model, although they gave us a good price. In the end, we went for a refund. By then, it was 5pm and already getting dark. There's no way we could do anything more except go home and prepare for the flight home later. Sigh....

A picture with 'The Good Girls'. They're really obedient and lovable dogs.

On the B773ER flight back.

Touch down at Changi. A groggy KK stones on the luggage trolley at 5.45am.

Photos

Jean - Kenneth's other dog

One of the houses we viewed.

Pyjamas Girls - Joanne (Ken's wife), me and Velda.

My mid-night surprise Birthday party

XX, we miss you!

Shopping

Now that the house is settled, more or less, there are a thousand and one things to shop for and get ready when we next arrive in the middle of winter. It's tiring but it's also really fun and exciting to be setting up house again in a new land.


So far, we've managed to strike the following immediate items off our shopping list:

Mattresses - got a Queen and 2 Single. Something not too expensive and fanciful for a start.

Quilts - warm ones, also 1 Queen and 2 Single.

Pillows - for all of us.

Waterproof mattress protectors - for the kids' mattresses.

Bathroom floor mats - a must for cold icy floors during winter.

Portable heater - we had one at our friend's place and it's indispensable for warming up the bathroom during and after your shower. Probably need more later since it's cheaper to on these heaters than to heat up the whole house.

Dryer - Kenneth's friend sold us one for $100. Comes with lifetime warranty from him. Would have gotten the washing machine as well until we found out that it was top-loading. I don't have the space in the new house and would prefer a front loader anyway for better washes.

Winter jackets - one for KK and 2 padded vests for KK and XX.

Car - our latest purchase today after 4 test drives, 3 days of burgers for lunch and comparisons of Honda Jazz, Mitsubishi Colt, Mazda 2 and Toyota Yarris, we decided to up our budget a little for a bigger car - $23,000 for a brand new Toyota Corolla Ascent 1.8 Hatchback.

We've 2 more days in Melbourne. Hope to get a fridge, child car seat and linens for the quilts/mattresses before I go back. I must say that we've achieved a lot within the short time frame here.

Mission Accomplished

The purpose of our trip to Melbourne this time is to hunt for a house and school for KK. As some of you already know, our family has decided to move to Australia this year.

Over the last 3 days, we have seen 4 houses and have decided to rent a nice 2-storey townhouse with 3 bedrooms for AUD330 per week. The location is in the suburb of Cairnlea, where our friend Kenneth also stays. It’s a 1 min’s drive from the primary school that we’ve enrolled KK in and Coles supermarket is just next to the school.





The past few days, we have been zipping around the suburbs checking out houses, set up a bank account at Footscray, which is some sort of Vietnamese town and visited Warribee Plaze shopping center, all with much ease on our Nissan rental car. All thanks to the GPS, loaned to us by Kenneth. I think the GPS is one of the greatest inventions ever. Though there are occasional hiccups like not being able to find the address, “Gloria the GPS” has been faithful in bringing us to our destinations each time. Hubby has decided that we’ll probably need one too when we’re here so that we can roam around easily.

With the house and school settled, the next challenge is to prepare for the final move here in July. By then it will be full winter and with XX along, we need to make sure that we’ll have some essential stuff to get us by the first few days. The cold might be a challenge initially so we’ll need to get the correct clothes and wrap up properly. The insulation of the houses in Australia is also not as good as those in northern Europe so the houses seems to be really cold, even indoors. Items like mattresses, quilts, pillows etc are some essentials that we’ll need to get ready before we arrive. Water, electricity, gas should also be connected by then. Then, there’s the internet, phone connections to apply for….so many small details to look into.

Well, it looks like exciting times ahead!

KK playing with Kenneth's dog, Holly.

Arriving Melbourne

We arrived Melbourne yesterday evening after a 6 hours flight on SIA. The flight, as expected of SQ standards, was smooth and pleasant. KK, the experienced traveller, entertained himself throughout the whole flight with the new KrisWorld entertainment system.

This trip, we had checked in 125kg of luggage, comprising 7 boxes and 1 bag. We had pre-checked in the 6 boxes and bag the night before the flight which turned out to be a smart move. This way, there's no rush and less stress on Hubby to ferry the cargo to the airport. But on arrival in MEL, there's where we faced a slight challenge of fetching all the cargo and clearing customs. We ended up with 3 trolleys stacked higher than ourselves. Even KK had to chip in to help push one of the trolley. But it didn't work too well as the poor kid could not even see where he's pushing. At customs, our stuff were scanned and some of the boxes had to be opened to be checked further. Nevertheless, it was done professionally and politely, though it did hold us up for another 30 mins at least.

We finally reached our friend, Kenneth's house by about 9pm. By that time, KK had already dozed off in the car. We had a pleasant surprise when we went into the house and met his wife and realised that we actually know her S'pore friend, Velda, who was also visiting and staying with them. What a reunion! I've not met Velda in S'pore for ages and we suddenly see each other again in Australia!!

Ok, more updates on what we did today, tomorrow. Kind of tired already...

Bad, Bad News

Sometimes, I will complain "today's newspaper is so boring." Meaning the newspapers are super thin (not enough news stories) or there are no interesting news stories. But really, no news is good news.

Recent days newspapers are 'super interesting', filled with colourful pictures and eyecatching headlines. Thanks alot to the natural disaters in Myanmar and China. Of course, not forgetting the crazy dads in Austria. One kept his daughter imprisoned for 24 years and the other, just reported today, hacked his wife, 7-year old daughter, parents and father-in-law to death with an axe.

Reading all these news keeps my eyes widely glued to the papers but also leaves my mind spinning and my heart feeling very heavy. I certainly don't feel good seeing pictures of dead bodies hugged by crying relatives or imagining the kind of life the imprisoned daughter has had to endure. As a mother, it is heart wrenching to see children suffering cos I can imagine if it was my child. I can't believe how any parent could harm their own flesh and blood. I also shudder in horror when I read news of sons killing their parents. Imagine how would you feel, after all those years of painstaking care and upbringing, to think that who knows some day your own son would come hacking after you with an axe.

The weather is warm and sunny outside, but I feel rather gloomy.

A Series of Disgusting Events

I have a hard time deciding on the title of this post. Other titles I'd considered were: "He started it!" or "Shitty Accidents - The Sequel".

Well, on Saturday, XX repeated his 'stunt' of pooping into his pants. This time, IT dropped out when he was playing with KK inside this cardboard carton. He was whisked immediately to the toilet for a wash-up. As I was busy washing XX, KK suddenly came up and exclaimed that he'd gotten some of XX's poop on his calf!

Hubby had mentioned to me that KK is easily disgusted by poop, even his own. But I had no idea the extent till that day. In the middle of washing KK, either the smell or thought of poop on his leg disgusted him so much that he suddenly told me, "Mummy, I want to vomit."

"What?!! Ok, go do it in the toilet bowl."

Too late. He couldn't even get out of the bath cubicle and vommited right then. What a mess! And the smell!! I nearly vomitted as well when I smelled the stench.

Sorry that I have to recount such disgusting events on my blog, but I think it's really funny and amazing how 2 boys can keep you so busy, one after another. And somehow, dear Hubby is always not at home when these things happen!

2 Little Shitty Accidents

We have started toilet training XX recently by letting him wear shorts/briefs at home instead of diapers, bringing him to the potty periodically. After he wakes up from sleep or nap, we'll bring him to the potty to pee. He's still young but it's good to start getting him used to the idea that there are other kinds of 'toilets' (and underwear) besides his diapers.

Of course, accidents will happen. XX still cannot communicate and control his urge to go to the toilet although sometimes if we are observant, we can catch some body language that tells us he needs to go. But yesterday and today there were 2 little shitty accidents.

Yesterday, KK, XX and I were playing bubbles outside the house. I took my eyes off the bottle of soap solution for one moment to blow some bubbles and XX toppled the bottle, spilling soapy solution at our doorstep. As I took a rag to wipe the floor, I smelled a foul smell. Before my brain can even start to interpret what smell it was, I saw the culprit standing there with a lump of stool by his feet. XX had shitted and he wasn't wearing his diapers! I was caught off guard with my soapy hands and before I could do anything, XX started moving and he stepped onto the 'you-know-what'! I didn't know what to do except to scream for the maid! Today, XX again passed motion in his pants and we didn't know it until he started walking and the dung dropped out onto the floor!

You know what I mean...our little angel, so cute, so clever, so sweet (when he's asleep)....you beam with pride everytime he smiles at you. Two seconds later, they make a mess and you wonder where this little devil's naughty genes come from. But you can't stay angry for long, because after all the trouble they make, they still look at you innocently and give you their most angelic smile.

Here's a pic of our lil'Devil with wings.

Cycling

These are some photos of a recent cycling outing we did on 25 Apr. In fact, KK and I went on one trip earlier with Yiyi and UG (my brother). We thought it was fun and good exercise so this time, I brought Hubby and XX to do it.

XX enjoyed it alot. He sat like a good boy in his seat all the way. Afterwards, we had some lunch at White Town Coffee because KK wanted to eat the instant noodles with sausage and egg there. I can also cook the same thing at home but somehow the perceived value is different. Well, at least the iced tea there is nice :-)

Bruised, Not Battered

Pain...on my chin, my elbow and neck. I guess this must be how it feels like if you've been in a fight but I'm hurt at various parts of my body and all for different reasons. The superstitious will probably believe I'm down on my luck recently.

Ouch - my chin. Hurt by none other than my son. KK had asked me to swing him and as I bent down to pick him up, I was momentarily distracted by XX. And KK has to chose this timing to jump up. So his head crashed into my chin so hard that my jaws closed together. Thank God, my tongue wasn't in between my teeth then!

Ouch Ouch - my elbow. I was arranging and rearranging stuff into boxes. While taking a box down from the top shelf in the storeroom, I forgot that I was still one more step on the ladder away from the floor. So I took a stumble and tumbled towards the doorway, knocking and scraping my elbow on the door. Another bruise.

Ouch Ouch Ouch - my neck. Well, I sustained this during the massage yesterday afternoon but it was only this morning when I woke up that I realised it hurts. This was the most unwarranted injury and I actually paid money for it!

Yesterday, Hubby suddenly invited me for a massage session. There was this spa promotion which advertised a 'Revitalising' program consisting of a scrub, sauna and body massage for only $49.90. Well, I thought that sounds quite enticing. However, our experience couldn't be worse.

Firstly, the receptionist lady 'booboo-ed' by mixing up the sequence. I went for a sauna immediately upon reaching and after that, I was told I should have done the scrub first. Now, because my pores are all open from the sauna, it was not advisable to do the scrub. It was only when I expressed my disappointment that she sheepishly apologised. She offered me an extra 20 mins of massage instead. Luckily I didn't take that. Or I could change to the other $28 promotion package which has just a massage and sauna. I took her word for it and agreed.

The massage was just about 30 mins and the whole works was on the neck and back. I realised this was not the usual 'aromatherapeutic' style of massage when I ask the Chinese massuer what style of massage she was using. She couldn't define it and in the end said something like 'a lot of Singaporeans do this'. Anyway, despite my requests to go light, the massage hurts as she uses a lot of pressure on the acupunture points. Hubby and I have this common understanding that a massage should be relaxing and enjoyable. I hate it when half the time of the massage, my muscles are tensed up and my face has a look that is anything but relaxed.

Because of the reduced timing of my program, I waited about 10 mins for Hubby after I'm done. When we paid up, I asked for a copy of the flyer which advertised the promotions. I found out that for my $28 promotion package, there was supposed to be a Foot Spa included. Hey, how come I was sitting there doing nothing for 10 mins and nobody told me about it? I was not in the know because of the last minute change of package but the receptionist lady should know better. I actually u-turn back to question her and she gave me another sheepish smile and apology. Though it was just a 5 mins soaking of my feet in a tub of hot herbal water and I was already dressed to go home, I still went ahead to do it. It's a matter of principle and even though she said I could go for a longer foot spa the next time we come, I seriously don't think I'll come back again. Guess what? The foot spa turned out to be the most relaxing and enjoyable part of the experience!