Kissed

The back of my car, that is. Outside Louisa's school of all places. It rained non-stop today so I decided to drive to pick Louisa. We were early so Lavigne and I sat in the car and waited. The space between my car and the car behind was quite small. I'd thought to myself if anyone would try to squeeze in. Then I saw a small red car trying to reverse into the space. I kept looking at the rear mirror, heart beating faster as the car got nearer, wondering if the driver would ever stop. Then it happened. It hit the back of my car and my car jerked forward. My heart skipped a beat. I went down to examine my car and by then the driver (a lady) had already inched forward but the gap between our cars were like a mere few centimetres apart. I wished I had my camera then. That driver parked in such an ackward position the front of her car was jutting out and the steering wheel wasn't centralised. She didn't even bother to drive forward when there's still quite a bit of space. At least much more than the space between ours. I think she saw me examining my car because as I was getting back in, she knocked at my back window and told me in a 'not very nice tone', 'I didn't bang into your car.' I told her she did because I was in the car and it jerked. (Not a teeny wheeny movement but one which made Lavigne sat up and looked at me wide-eyed) She then replied, 'I merely tapped your car, not hit.' Since there wasn't any damage, I didn't want to pursue the matter further and she just walked into the school. I can't believe there's such people in the world. Bang into other people's car still dare to say 'merely tapped'. Yeah, right! Merely tapped. Hello! I'd appreciate an apology even for doing that. I think she misjudged and hence hit my car. That driver needs to take her driving lesson all over again.

My 'Matar' (police) out of town

I've saved this post till now. Adrian left for Germany this morning and won't come back till next Friday. Why didn't I post it earlier? To save me from naggings lah. You see, in my previous post, I mentioned about him asking me to keep the party simple. So imagine if he read what I'm going to do and see what I bought. I think I'll get no peace. Haha! So now the matar is out of town, I can safely write about what I'm going to do and I'm sure he's going to read it while he's away but there's nothing much he can do then, can he? *Evil grin*

Ok, ok! I am happy that the games are more or less decided. No elaborate food this time and in my opinion, a rather simple cake. I've also photoshopped the pictures for the posters. Just need to print them out. So what am I doing?! Take a deep breath, Adrian. I'm making the goodie and sweetie bags(!!!!!). The materials are sitting there waiting for me and I'm quite excited about making them. I'm also making monkey and giraffe heads using pom poms. These are part of the decoration for the goodie bag. Next on the list, I need to cut out a hole on a greyboard for a monkey head (yes, I'm attempting to make it using fur material) . This is for a game. If I fail at making the head with this method, I'll use paper instead. Last but not least, I'm making a leopard headband and tail (for another game). These will be easy since it's just a matter of sewing the leopard print material together on a hairband and put stuffing to make the tail. Adrian, I think I'll avoid your calls from now on, haha!

Some of you may think that's alot to do in a week but I think I will manage. Mel's good with planning ahead and organisation. She's already done the pinatas for her girl's party which will be held at a later date. OK, I'd better get going. These days, I am so bad (read: lazy) with posting photos. I've yet to post pics from Louisa's party. Paiseh! Hopefully after Lavigne's party, everything will be back to normal.

Lavigne's 3rd Birthday Party

Lavigne will be celebrating her 3rd birthday in 2 weeks and I'm feeling excited for her since this will be her first proper birthday party where children of her age are invited. Previous years' parties were attended by our own friends and family. Since she's started school, she now has her own friends. After Louisa's party last month, she had the worst tantrum I'd ever seen. I guess she was jealous but couldnt' voice out her feelings. She then told me she wants to have her birthday at the same place where Louisa's was held. I asked what theme would she like and suggested 'Little Pony' and she agreed to it.

While planning her party, I realised that 'Little Pony' is too girlie for a mixed-sex party. We've had Pooh Bear theme, Fairy theme and Hawaiian theme so I must think of something different and one which I can easily buy stuff and plan games for 3-4 yr old boys and girls. I ended up with a Jungle theme. When I told Lavigne about the theme, I'd thought she'd be excited. Instead, she told me crossly, 'No! I want a Spiderman theme'. She'd not watched the movie before so I wondered how she got to know this character. But I managed to convince her by saying we could have lots of fun animal games.

So the invites had been sent out before I left for Austria. This had to be the easiest invite I'd ever made. Simple, quick and cheap. I received a few confirmations when I was in Austria. Interestingly, one mother rang me when I was on top of a mountain and the reception was very clear. She laughed when I told her where I was.

So the cake's design had been decided upon, the games planned (first thing I did) and game prizes and some goodie bag treats bought. I'll be recycling some of Louisa's party decorations and plan to make some myself (nothing too complicating and time consuming) if time permits. I know what's Adrian going to tell me. He has forbidden me to make any elaborate cake and told me to keep the party as simple as possible since we won't be having many helpers this time round. I'll see what I can do and handle. Plan and organise!

Back from Austria

Though it's been a good 7 days in Austria, both Adrian and I agreed it was about time we went home. We missed the girls and couldn't wait to get back to see them.

Last Saturday, we woke up very early to catch our morning flight at 8am. Louisa kept waking up in the middle of the night to ask if we were leaving yet as she'd wanted to say goodbye to us. At 3am, both the girls came into our room and insisted on sleeping with us. I'd have brought them back to their room if we weren't going away. So the 4 of us squeezed in the queen bed. I woke at 5.30am, followed by Adrian. We were careful not to wake the girls up but I thought they'd be really upset if they woke to find us gone. But Louisa woke a while later and Lavigne followed suit. I was relieved they got to see us before we left but was worried about them waking so early and then have a bad day. Louisa started to tear when we brought our luggages downstairs and said she didn't want daddy to go to Austria but Lavigne seemed fine. I felt really sad myself. My mother-in-law gave them the 1st present I'd prepared and Louisa stopped crying and said she'd wave us goodbye at the window. The taxi came and we left. I couldn't describe in words how I felt at the moment. There was a dull ache in my heart. I'd left my babies behind to go on a holiday.

I felt slightly better upon reaching the airport. Everything was smooth-sailing as we had checked-in online the previous day and didn't have any luggage to check-in. Both Adrian and myself were at a loss of what to do. We were suddenly kids-free and so free. It felt strange. Then we found out the flight was delayed. Hence it was quite a wait. We flew to Munich and the first thing that striked me was the strong stench of smoke in the air the moment I stepped into the airport terminal. Other than that, it was very clean and modern. We then took a train to Innsbruck where Adrian's conference took place.

Our hotel room had the most fantastic view. We had a good view of the Alps but unfortunately the room's safe wasn't working, so we requested for a change of room. The view for the other room faces the opposite side of the Alps, still mountain-view but not as nice. Nonetheless, it was a great hotel with superb service from the restaurant staff. I'd never encountered such first-class service in any hotels before. All the staff were extremely polite and attended to all our needs, but 2 of them stood out. They were from the Philippines and my were we pampered. Hot tea/coffee brought to us, freshly-squeezed orange juice served and replenished constantly, cutleries changed for different courses (it was buffet-style breakfast but ala carte menu was available), we were asked if we were happy with the food, endless 'thank yous' and 'you're welcome'. We were so pleased we nominated them both for their first-class service and we were not the only ones. I saw other guests filling in the cards as well. They must have received many commendations.

When Adrian was at the conference, I went sightseeing alone. I'd forgotten what it was like travelling without children. It was so hassle-free and quick. No long preparation or much packing needed. I took it easy and visit places of interest till about 4pm before heading back to the hotel for a workout at the gym. Adrian would return to the hotel for a shower and then we would walk back to the old town for our dinner. Everything was leisurely and relaxed. But in my mind, I'd think to myself, oh the girls will be doing this and that at such and such a time. Even when I was shopping, I'd be looking at things for the girls. Austria is such an expensive country. Cost of living is very high. I wonder what's the average income.

I had the most fantastic time when we went for an Austrian Folk Show. We were nearly turned away as we didn't make an advance booking. The show was fully booked by tour groups that evening. We waited and just before the show started, there were a few extra seats so we were able to get our tickets. I think the highlight of the show was when they sang the songs of all the different countries where the audience came from, together with waving the national flags. We were both very surprised when they showed the Singapore flag and sang the song 'Singapura' (we were asked where we came from when we entered the hall, no wonder!). Silly me took pictures instead of videographing that segment.

Adrian's conference dinner was held at a mountain-top. As it rained that day, it was very chilly up where we were. The food, other than the soup, was quite disappointing but I had good company. I had initially dreaded attending this dinner, thinking to myself what conversations could I hold with all these computer whiz. We sat ourselves at this table full of Japanese. Being a fan of all things Japanese, I had a lovely evening chatting to the girl sitting next to me. Adrian, on the other hand, was bored stiff.

Our 1.5 day trip to Salzburg was more rushed and hectic. Since we had so little time, we wanted to cover as much as we could. There were the usual historical sites and I'd wanted to visit some of the places which were shot in 'Sound of Music'. We took a river cruise and headed for this place called Hellbrunn. Can I say that it was a wet-tastic visit. The 'trick fountains' built more than 400 years ago had me and alot of other visitors drenched. There were secret water jets everywhere and though I tried to be careful, I got sprayed on several occasions. Other places we visited were the Salzburg's Cathedral, Mozart's birthplace and Residence, St Peter's Cemetery, St Sebastian's cemetery, Mirabellgarten, The Benedictine Convent of Nonnberg, and several other places where scenes from the 'Sound of Music' were shot. If Innsbruck was expensive, Salzburg was even more so, or at least for the souvenirs. Things in Salzburg were almost double of what they cost in Innsbruck. Our hotel room is very nice, too bad we were not able to enjoy much of it since we were out most of the time. For the first time, our plane home actually left earlier than scheduled. What a nice change!

Both the girls coped very well without us around and we were very proud of them. I think my presents and little notes to them everyday helped. I must also thank my inlaws for looking after them and our friends for bringing Lavigne to and back from school. It had been a very good holiday.

My Ballerinas

Lavigne went for her 1st ballet class today. The girls look so cute in their new pink ballet uniform. (I took the photos while they were waiting to go into their classes) I was able to leave Lavigne in the class and then came home to pick Louisa up. When we went back, we peeped at her through the window and she was doing all the cute little positions. Awwww....... She refused to change out of her ballet shoes and kept them on while we waited for Louisa in the car. I have no time to do up the photos so just these 3 un-photoshopped ones.

Austria Trip

In less than 12 hours, the taxi will arrive at our home and Adrian and I will make our way to Heathrow Airport. We're going to Austria for a week sans our 2 girls. I can't say I'm excited about this trip because I am just so worried about leaving them behind. I was NEVER EVER away from them for more than a day if you don't take into account the time when I went to the hospital to deliver Lavigne. We mothers just worry too much. I'm sure our own mothers worry as much even though we're this old. Hopefully once we reach our destination, I'll be more relaxed and am able to enjoy some much needed couple-time with Adrian. I can't believe Austria is going to be so hot - about 28 degrees celsius. But the nights will be quite chilly - slightly over 10 degree celcius. What a big difference right? How I wish Singapore's like that too.

Adrian's conference will take place in Insbruck and we'll be there for 5 days. After that, we'll head to Salzburg for a night where one of my favourite movie 'Sound of Music' was shot. We were very lucky. Adrian had asked me to book a hotel room in Salzburg and I did my research and came up with a few hotels. We don't fancy period types and prefer modern rooms. Unfortunately, the ones that I like are either fully booked or are beyond our budget. So I put off the booking. Then one day I found this website. Not only were they offering the hotels I like within our budget but there were rooms available. I couldn't believe my luck! So Adrian got an offer to stay at Hilton Insbruck and we will stay at Renaisannce Salzburg. Superb!

I'd prepared little presents for the girls for each day we'll be away. They are to remind them that even though we're not here with them, we still remember them. I hope my mother-in-law will remember to give them to the girls everyday. Oh, I will miss them so much!

My baby's started school

Lavigne's in her new school right now. It's her first day and I'm not sure if she was as excited as I was. Luckily, there were no tears or reluctance to stay. One teacher took her into the class and we observed her for a little while from outside before telling her we were leaving. She ran to us and gave Adrian and I a big cuddle before running back to her teacher. That was it. Adrian kept singing the chorus of the song 'Freedom' this morning and asked me how I felt when I was driving him to campus. Honestly, the whole thing hasn't sunk in yet I think. I don't really feel relieved and I am certainly not a lady-of-leisure as some people had said. Yes, no doubt I can now shop in peace but that's about it. On the other hand, I think I can get more work done while the girls are in school since I get no distraction. I guess also life will be more routined and structured which is not a bad thing. I'm looking forward to a new life.

The song's not relevant to me. Only the word 'freedom' in the chorus is.

Rude and Nasty

Since arriving in UK almost 3 years ago, I have never encountered outright racism. Today I did. We were shopping at Staines with my inlaws and had gone into one chained restaurant for lunch. We'd been to other branches but not this one. They usually have a 'family corner' and even a kids' menu so I presume it's a family-friendly restaurant chain (apparently not this one!). We couldn't find a table and when one became available, it was a 4-seater. Since all of us were hungry, we decided not to wait for any other tables and planned to move over a smaller table to accommodate the 6 of us. There were many other smaller tables scattered around and all except one was occupied. Adrian and my father-in-law tried to move that small table over but was stuck at one point by one customer who was sitting quite near to our table. They proceeded to try to lift the table over when many people started shouting 'wooooooo.....ehhhhh....what are you trying to do' and what-nots. We ignored them and sat down to look at the menu. When my inlaws and Adrian went to order food, Lavigne started crying and wanted Adrian. Most of those middle-aged and elderly beer-drinker raised their voices saying 'oi! shut up!'....'Keep quiet!'. I was furious! But since we have two young children, I didn't want to make a scene and instead went to my inlaws to suggest going to another place. I mean, no point eating there with those downright rude and racists right? Unfortunately, they had already ordered the food so we stayed. Adrian said that one person was talking about us when he walked past him. I couldn't remember what he told me because I was fuming mad. What's wrong with these people who sit around in the middle of the day guzzling beer and doing nothing? Simply waste of tax-payers' money!

The countdown begins

Adrian and I will be going to Austria in a week. I am just so worried about the girls who are not going with us. I'd never been away from them for more than a day, let alone one whole week. I know they will be fine during the day as Louisa will be in school everyday and Lavigne will be starting school three days a week. On top of that, there's the music and ballet classes. So they will be very much occupied. What worries me is bedtime. I always have to be in the room with Lavigne and these days she wants her dad to be with her too. So this evening, I suggested Adrian and I go out while my inlaws handle the girls' bedtime routine. This is to let the girls get used to us not being around. We wanted to try it two weeks ago. Unfortunately, Louisa refused to let her daddy go even when we told her we were going to the supermarket to get her party stuff. We went only after they had slept.

We had planned to go right after dinner. But Lavigne started acting up during her meal saying she was sleepy and then decided she needed to poo. She demanded Adrian to carry her upstairs and then asked my mother-in-law to go up too. Her grand wanted to give her a shower and asked for a flannel, pail and scoop I think. Adrian then took over to show her the usual way we do it without all those things. As we were going out, Lavigne refused to let us go. I explained to her we were going to sign her up for her ballet class (that's the truth) and then suggested her going upstairs and wave us goodbye from her bedroom window. Phew! Luckily, no fuss or tears. She waved us goodbye and I heaved a sigh of relief.

The dancing school which Louisa goes to is starting a new ballet class for 3 and 4 year olds this term. So we decided to sign Lavigne up as well. Louisa had wanted to do Tap and Modern Dancing AND ballet. I told her she could only choose one. Furthermore, Adrian feels that ballet will be better for her. So I was surprised that he'd decided to let her go for a trial class to see if she likes it. So yes, everyday will be busy for us starting from next week when Lavigne starts school. She goes every Monday and Friday mornings and Wednesday afternoons. On Tuesday afternoons, the girls go to Stepping Notes, their music class. Thursdays will be my parenting class and Lavigne will be in the creche. Friday afternoons will be ballet lessons and if Louisa decides she wants to do Tap and Modern Dance and Adrian approves of it, that will be on Saturday mornings. Soon, I will also start on my yoga classes. Am I a kiasu mum or what? The thing is if we enroll one for something, it's just fair we enroll the other as well. We just want them to do things that they enjoy which is singing and dancing. If I am not wrong (someone please correct me if I am), such classes here are not as expensive as those in Singapore. We pay £30+ for one term of ballet class for one child. Of course if you convert that to S$, it may sound alot.

So after the enrollment, we went to Staines. Guess what? All the coffee joints were closed. It was only slightly after 7. We didn't want to go to any restaurants since we were only going to have some coffee. So we popped into Waitrose (supermarket), the only place that was opened. How romantic right? Browsing at a supermarket on a supposedly date. But I was glad we did that because I discovered they sell Skippy Peanut Butter (both the smooth and super chunk) at a good price too (we don't usually shop there). Surprisingly so since Waitrose is an upmarket supermarket chain. I only eat the Skippy Peanut Butter because I don't like the local type. The places that stock it is Sainsbury (but only the smooth type) and the Chinese supermarkets (too far). Best of all, I also found out they carry a range of 'nice cakes' such as Napolitan and other unusal ones which I can't remember the names. I've decided to buy one of these cakes and then decorate myself for Lavigne's party. Easy peasy. No sweat! When we got home, the girls were already fast asleep. We didn't spend a dime on our 'date'. Parking was free after 6pm and since all the cafes were closed, we didn't have any coffee.

New school year

Tomorrow, Louisa will begin her Year One at the same school. Even though her old school shoes still fit, they look very worn out so we bought her another pair. She chose the design herself. I'm surprised she didn't choose Clarks' new range called 'YoToy' where you can hide a secret toy in the shoes. Quite innovative but rather pointless. I wonder why would anyone want to walk around with dollies hidden in their shoes. My mother-in-law paid for the shoes as a birthday gift for her. She hoped that everyday when Louisa put on her shoes, she'll remember her. I got her another pinafore and a new jumper as Adrian said that she's always taking off the cardigan she owns. Every new school year when I was studying, my mum would buy me a new set of uniform, shoes and socks. So I'm determined to follow the tradition. Louisa received 2 lunch bags for her birthday. The one below which she'll be using is from her uncle, Daniel. He bought her a matching water bottle but it's too pretty for use in school. So I'm letting her use the kitty one given to her by Ella and Alex. Her kitty lunch bag will be used by Lavigne.

Human Nature

All of us know that there are different kinds of people in the world. But it is only when you actually have personal experiences with all myriad of homo sapiens that make you sit up and think what kind of world this is filled with some very unkind, sick in the head or outright nasty people. There are those 'pigs' who don't bat an eyelid going sleeping around as encountered by Jean. Shermaine recently had the scare of her life when she was nearly knocked down by a car because the driver didn't stop at the red light when she was cycling across the pedestrian crossing with her young daughter. Then there are those two-headed snakes who, in front of you, treat you so nicely but once your back's turned, hiss and show their fangs at you. It's fine if these people come and go in your lives but if they happen to be part of your circle and there is no way of shaking them off, then it's a misery. I hate it when I'm being patronized. Some people pretend to be nice towards you and then backstab you. Tsk tsk tsk!