Coming and Going II

Youngest sis and Xinyu are both now on board the plane on their way home to Singapore. I just got back home from the airport and it had been a nightmare (later on that). It is hard to believe that just a week ago, I had picked them up from the train station in my town and then this evening, I'd sent them off at the airport. I was happy when they extended their trip but I didn't know that one week was up before I realised it. I'd been progressively getting sad and heavy-hearted since last night, knowing well that in less than a day, my sister would be going home. They were still on the wait-list for tomorrow's flight but I know that there was little chance of them getting it and moreover, I don't want to inconvenient them further since they were all ready to go and families in Singapore had been eagerly awaiting their return. I'd said that I'd be contented even if they leave today but I'd been wrong. I guess no matter how long she stays, I'd be feeling the same way when she leaves.

I felt very happy during this past week she was here after feeling low for quite a while prior to that. We ate together, chatted together, watched telly together and boxed each other silly (played boxing and many other games on Wii). She went to the girls' music lessons, took Louisa to ballet, picked her up from school and together with Xinyu, helped me look after the girls whenever possible. Yesterday, they played with the girls while I did some gardening and Xinyu cooked dinner (very yummy braised pork belly).

Even though my youngest sister is a good decade younger than me, there is surprisingly not a generation gap between us both. I always talk to her when I'm down and she's always there to offer a listening ear and good advice. We're always yakking on Windows Live Messenger. Even when she was staying with me, we were be sending each other messages, she downstairs and me upstairs. She being in US means that the timing is better for us to chat rather than if she's in Singapore. I hope we won't drift apart once she reaches Singapore.

Adrian, too, was sad and didn't have a proper dinner tonight. Strangely, the girls' behaviour were quite bad and my sis and Xinyu were having a hard time with them while I cooked. They were constantly fighting and Louisa was rude to my sister. I guess they knew they were leaving soon and were sad but didn't know how to react, hence the naughty behaviour. My sister broke down just as dinner was being served. When she told me she was heartbroken seeing them behaving badly, I, too, broke down. We, women, are so emotionally. We were all affected by the imminent farewell. To think that she'd messaged me asking me not to cry at the airport last night and she was the first to do so.

The girls wanted badly to go with us to the airport but as our car is small and they had many luggages, there wasn't any space for more passengers. Poor Louisa cried non-stop. I thought I would too when we said our farewell and gave each other a hug but I didn't. I'd been preparing myself for this moment so I didn't feel too sad. Perhaps it will sink it later. I was approaching the one hour mark for parking (charges at the airport are exorbitant) and was rushing back to the carpark when I received a call from my sister. They had been stopped at the gate due to too many handcarry and asked me to go back in case they can't squeeze their stuff into 2 bags. I quickly popped into Marks and Spencer on the way and bought some Percy Pigs for her to eat on the plane. I stood in one corner some distance away while they were repacking their stuff. Before I realised, they'd gone in and I didn't manage to pass the sweets to her. She told me later that they managed to reduce their bags to 2 and quickly went in when the guard wasn't looking. They tried to wave at me but I was looking the other way, hence I missed them.

I had no clue what was going to happen after I paid for the carpark and walked to my car. I was a little puzzled when I saw that all the lanes on the carpark floor were filled with cars. I thought it was the peak hour, therefore a queue to leave. When I got into my car, I realised that all the cars were stationary and not moving at all. People were getting off their cars to look out of the building to get an idea what was going on. What I thought to be a little wait ended up me being stuck in the car for almost 1hr 45min. My car didn't move an inch for a good 1.5hr. Luckily I had a magazine with me. I was still at the airport when my sis's flight had taken off. It was past 11pm when I got home. I do not know what was the reason behind the big jam. It could be a combination of a traffic accident (sis told me flight delayed as crew arrived late due to accident) and a car which broke down near the exit gantry.

True enough, my sister's departure began to sink in once I got home.

Strawberry picking

I was dismayed when I woke up this morning and realised it was raining. Today was the day to go strawberry picking with my sister but with the bad weather, it looked like we had to change plans. So I rang Gerald and Emily (they were going with us) to cancel the trip but they said it wasn't raining over their side and perhaps the weather's not as bad over at the strawberry farm. I know that my sister has been very keen on picking strawberries and would be very disappointed if I can't fulfil her wish so I thought we'd just take the chance and if it was really wet there, then we could go to the farmshop or somewhere else.

It was drizzling when we reached Esher. We browsed at the farmshop and the rain stopped. So we proceeded to the picking fields. I thought we were the only crazy ones but I was wrong. There were other people already at the fields picking berries and vegetables. The girls and I wore wellies and to my surprise, the ground wasn't soggy nor muddy. I'd imagined our footwear would be very soiled but they weren't. Due to the wet weather, a lot of strawberries were not picked and were rotten. Such a waste. But there were plenty of good ones for us to pick. We chose the biggest and reddest strawberries and very quickly filled up the baskets. They taste so different from the ones we buy from the market as they were so fresh, juicy, sweet and fragrant. We also pulled carrots and it was such great fun.

I'm just so glad my sister's wish was fulfilled and everyone had a good day.

(Photos to be added later)

I'm happy

I rang SIA up today and was told there are seats available on Wed 27th June. So now, my sister and her boyfriend will leave 2 days later (yay!) but are still on the wait list for 28th June. I'm contented now even if they don't get it for the 28th.

Dropped?

A lady who's the mother of a boy who used to go to the same nursery as Louisa and a friend of my neighbour, waited for me at the gate of Louisa's school today. I greeted her and she kept asking me 'has she dropped yet, has she dropped yet?' I was like 'hmmm.....' and didn't have a clue what she was talking about. She saw my puzzled face and went 'your neighbour'. Then it clicked. She's asking me if my neighbour, her friend, has given birth. So I replied 'Oh! No, she hasn't. I saw her yesterday and her tummy's still very big.' These two ladies are from Nigeria and I guess that's the way they put it in Nigeria - 'drop?' = 'give birth?' I learn something new today.

Coming and going

My youngest sis will be back to Egham tomorrow evening after (in her words) 'liu lang-ing' for 3 weeks in Europe with her boyfriend. They are due to fly back on Saturday but have postponed it to Monday. Apparently, Adrian had asked them to extend their trip so that I can spend more time with my sis and also she can pack some stuff to ship back as she's got too much things. They had wanted to surprise me but decided to tell me in advance so that I can plan on what to do and where to bring them. In fact it was me who rang up the airline to change the dates. Much to my disappointment, all flights are fully booked on 27th and 28th June. So they are confirmed flying back on Mon, 25th June but are on the waiting list for those 2 days. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. We're planning to go strawberry-picking and have a picnic this weekend but the forecast is bad for the rest of the week - rain everyday and a dip to 15 degrees. Let's hope there'll be some changes since the weather is so unpredictable here.

What did you just say?

Lavigne's suddenly saying 'water' by emitting the 'T' so it sounds like 'wo-er'. Louisa used to do that sometime back so not only 'water' becomes 'wo-er', 'button' becomes' 'ba-urn' and 'bottle' becomes 'bor-arl'. The first time I heard Lavigne said that a few days back, I was like 'har, what did you just say?' It was very funny to hear her say that. Louisa has not spoken like that for ages so I wonder where she picked that up from. It's really cute to hear her read books and when she talks to other people as this is when she speaks with an accent but not when she speaks to us.

Goodbye diapers!

Playdate that didn't go so well

We invited Louisa's classmate, Charlie, home for a playdate today. Picked them up from school and the girls were very excited. They held hands, skipped together and giggled alot. Charlie told me she was very hungry and I told her they'd be having biscuits and strawberry milk for teabreak. When I served the girls the snacks, Charlie said 'No, thank you!' to me. I was surprised since she'd told me she was hungry. I asked her if she wanted something else and came the same reply 'no, thank you!'. Little did I know this was the beginning of many 'no, thank yous' she was going to say to me.

I'd pumped up the toy house earlier in the day for them to play. Louisa and Lavigne were very excited but Charlie just sat on the sofa in the house. I took out all the cooking and food toys, thinking they could play pretend cooking and have a picnic. Charlie didn't seem interested. I certainly do not want the child to feel bored so I suggested them making bracelets and necklaces. She lit up then and we all went downstairs to do some beading. She was very chatty with me and made herself a bracelet and drew a picture of her family. We also made flowers by cutting out petals from coloured paper and stick them onto straws. I'd planned to make them fish and chips for dinner and had already seasoned the fish fillet. Was about to prepare them to be fried and asked Charlie if she liked fish and chips and she said 'no'. Oh my god! I thought all kids like fish and chips. I started to panick and asked what she would like to eat but she couldn't think of anything. I asked 'chicken nuggets'? She went all excited and told me 'chicken nuggets' my favourite'. I had a piece of chicken breast in the freezer and quickly took it out to defrost in the microwave (something I don't do). A quick season of salt and pepper, dipped in egg, cornstarch, egg and then roll them in breadcrumbs. Panfried the nuggets, deep fried the chips and boiled the peas. Gosh I'm not used to cooking something I'd not planned ahead. That's why I dislike cooking for guests who turn up suddenly. I like to plan ahead on what to cook.

Anyhow, I was pleased with how the nuggets and fish turned out. I served Charlie nuggets while Louisa and Lavigne had a mixture of chicken nuggets and fish fillets. I thought to myself 'Great! The kids are going to enjoy their dinner!' and sat down at the table with them. Charlie didn't touch the nuggets at all and ate her chips slowly while my girls devoured their food. I asked her why she wasn't eating the nuggets and she just went 'no, thank you'. Asker her if she wanted ketchup and she said 'no, thank you'. Asked her what she likes to eat and she couldn't give me an answer. Asked her what she eats at home and she told me 'baked beans....chips.....'. Asked her if she's shy because I'm in the room and if so I could leave so she could eat. She said 'no, thank you'. Asked her if she wanted some cherry tomatoes 'no, thank you'. Then she told me she likes apples. Asked her if I could cut her one and she said 'yes!' She probably ate only 2 slices. Finally she told me! She missed her mummy and daddy. She needs her mummy there with her and cuddle her while she eats. I asked if I could pack her dinner for her to bring home so she could eat with her mummy, 'no, thank you' came the answer again. I asked if I should ring her mummy to come pick her up and she nodded her head. I felt really bad. Poor Charlie must be starving.

When her mummy came, I explained to her what had happened and she told me she must be tired and needs her dummy. Charlie kept defending herself by saying 'no, I don't need my dummy!' I know she still sucks her dummy and I'm shocked but she's not the only friend of Louisa who still does it. I could have bought frozen pizza (which is a sure hit to most children, except for Lavigne) for dinner tonight but I don't want her mummy to think that I give her child convenience food. I don't have any smiley faces, chicken nuggets or fish fingers in my freezer that was why I panicked. I needed to whip something up in a jiffy. What else do most English children eat for tea (dinner)?! When Lucie (another of Louisa's friend) came last Wednesday, I cooked her Spaghetti Bolognese and she liked it. Luckily I didn't cook Chinese food because Charlie told me she doesn't like it. Well, at least she was very happy with what she made today......I think.

Nurturing thyself

One of the lessons from the parenting course I attend is about nurturing ourselves. We give so much to the family each day we sometimes forget about ourselves. But it is also important that we nurture ourselves. Things like reading, listening to music, gardening, having a nice, slow shower etc. Part of it is to keep us sane. We can't be doing chores and looking after the children all day long and not do a thing for ourselves. We need to have sometime to relax and unwind.

After a bad week, I went for some 'therapy' today. First stop was my favourite garden centre, Long Acres. I arranged to meet Anne, my family-support friend there. Upon reaching there, I went on my own to browse while she took Lavigne with her to other parts of the centre. I could shop in peace but had a hard time deciding what to buy. I was tempted to buy more but due to my *bad experience with the university's gardener, I'd decided not to do anything to my back garden this year and instead, plant my flowers in pots and put them in the tiny front garden. Might as well since I've got bad hayfever this year. The flowers will cheer me up when I go out of my house and when I come home. I need some gardening therapy to tide over my low mood. Anne brought Lavigne to the cafe and we had a chat there before leaving to meet Emily for lunch. I did a little bit of retail therapy as well. Though my therapy today wasn't good for my wallet (I didn't spend that much), it cheered me up a little. I'm looking forward to gardening over the weekend. Hope the weather won't be as bad as it was in the forecast.

*The day after I came back from Cornwall, I realised the university gardener who mows our lawn and cut the hedge has removed all the weeds (big as plants) on my back garden bedding including my perennials! He'd used a motorised cutter and hacked away everything, not stopping to check what was a weed and not. I'd neglected the garden since Winter so dandelions were everywhere. I had planned to move the perennials to the front when I come back from the trip. The really big plants like the lavender he left them intact. But other plants I'd bought last year were beginning to flower and now they're all gone. It was not the first time he'd done it. In my second month when I was here, he'd mowed over my skimmia. One of 2 plants I'd ever bought. It wasn't a tiny plant but bigger than a basketball. I was in the bedroom and saw him going over it. He claimed he didn't see the plant and few days later replaced it with something else which I didn't like. Strange though he'd said he didn't see my plant when he went over it with the mower but could replace it with something similar. Whenever he trims the hedge, the cuttings will be all over my plants. The back garden incident nearly put me off gardening altogether. But I love flowers too much to give it up. What I'm going to do is to plant them in pots and when he comes and cut the hedge, I'll move them out of the way or hope that he'll do so if I'm not around.

Indecisive, Undecided

I'm at a crossroad of my life now which I can't decide which way to take. Am feeling very angst and stressed up....totally confused and don't know what I should do. (no I'm not expecting no. 3) I think whichever path I choose, there will be pros and cons. Perhaps to make things easier for myself, I should see which path offers me more pros and then just choose it. I shall seek God's guidance for He knows what's best for me.

Keeping the sparks alive

I'm not sure how many of you out there agree with me. I personally feel that married couples, with or without children, irregardless of how long they'd been together, should go on dates every now and then to keep the sparks alive. It is very easy to be bogged down by work and the daily mundane stuff. Worse still if you have children. Everything will be revolved around them. Then you realise your 'lover' has become 'the father of your children'. Many people have this mentality 'Aiyah! Married already what.....no need to be romantic lah!' But I do think that throughout a marriage, the husband still needs to do the wooing again sometimes, the wife still needs to preen and primp to make herself desirable to the husband and generally making special time for each other. When was the last time I went on a date with Adrian? I think it was last December when we were in Singapore. Has our relationship suffered? You bet!

*I am not dropping any hints here and I mean it*

RATATOUILLE: Rat-a-too-ee

I have another blog which I don't use. Sometime back, I saw a theme and rather liked it but it wasn't personal enough for this blog of mine. Was checking today to see if there's any new theme and decided to use it for my other blog. Just realised there's a pretty lengthy preview of the movie at the bottom of the page. I'm going to catch this show.

Feeling hungry?

Foodies out that who don't mind driving anywhere in Singapore to eat like my dad, visit this blog for recommendations.

*How I wish I'm in Singapore now*

I'm loving

...Marks and Spencer's Percy Pig soft gums. I'm a savoury person and Adrian's the one with sweet tooth but eversince we came back from the Cornwall trip, I'd been hooked. My sister bought a few packets and we munched on them along the way. It kept me awake during the long drives and on one occasion stopped me from throwing up due to motion sickness. I like them because they are not too sweet and soft and chewy. As they are made with fruit juice, they do not taste artificial. What more with the soft pink colour and cute pig faces, they are simply irresistable.

Sadness sets in.....

...when I drove off and my sister waved us goodbye at the drop-off area at Heathrow Airport earlier today. Jean, my 3rd sis, will soon be on her way home to Singapore. Even though we're not the buddy-buddy kind of siblings and don't talk lots to each other, we sincerely care and love each other. We have our ways of showing our sisterly affection. She's my shopping buddy and is ever generous by buying my family and myself things.

Jean came to UK to work almost 2 years ago and told me she wouldn't have done so if we were not here. During those times, we went on holidays together and she came during weekends to stay. No doubt we disagree at times as per normal, she's there for me whenever I'm down. It's good to know that I have my sister staying so close to me. Now that she has left, I felt somewhat lonely. My only relative (other than Daniel) has gone home. I know she's just a phonecall or email away but it's different....absolutely different when we are thousands of miles apart.

Jean, I hope you had enjoyed your work stint in London and do not regret your decision to go back. I wish you all the best in the future and may you find your dream job. Enjoy your laksa, chicken rice, nasi lemak, vegetarian beehoon etc etc!

Thanks for everything.

Love, sis.