On Sunday March 25th, we set out very early (our transfer was 6am and it was daylight savings morning so really 5am)! We set our alarm for 5am, but our iPhone updated the time and after getting up and dressed (which was kind of difficult with brace etc), I realized our mistake. Thankful we hadn't woken the kids up! I hadn't had a lot of sleep given my leg was braced and pretty swollen. We had a tense moment at Chambery airport when being asked if I could bend my leg. I managed to convince them that with an aisle seat I would be fine to let the trolley past. Phew. We had a good time getting to the plane, in a wheelchair and getting a hydraulic lift (Alex joined me). The flight was fine and when we arrived at Gatwick, I was told assistance would be arriving. Assistance was a wheelchair for 100m and then a motorized trolley. I was allowed to take 1 child with me, so Tara and I got on. What an amazing service, the lady who drove us was lovely - a volunteer and just so friendly and accommodating. We were driven to passport control and then met the boys at baggage reclaim and then we all got a ride to the car rental area! It was an excellent service. We picked up our rental car and drove to the Hilton hotel in Cobham in Surrey.
Gary dropped me off at the door of the Hilton - we arrived around lunchtime. I went in hobbling on my crutches with both kids. The check-in staff told us our room wasn't ready yet as they had been full the night before. The manager at the desk then looked at me and said, "You look like you could do with a drink, come to the bar with me" and she took the kids and I to the bar and told the bartender to get us what we wanted and she would sign the bill. She got the children 2 activity packs with colouring etc inside and it made me feel like crying - it had been such a journey to get there and everyone had been so kind. With the accident happening less than 24 hours prior, we hadn't really had a chance to process it all but she was so lovely and accommodating.
When Gary and I lived in England we had a house in Walton on Thames and this was one of the reasons we had chosen the Hilton at Cobham. As it was lunchtime, we decided to go to one of our favourite pubs for lunch. We drove there (got a little lost) but managed to find it ok and as it was Sunday lunch the place was heaving. Luckily we did manage to get a table and we had a gorgeous pub lunch at what used to be called "The Oatlands Chase" but had changed its name. Again, on leaving, Gary went to get the car and people were helping me out - opening the car door and just being so kind.
We drove back to our hotel and got our rooms, only to find out that they were on the 2nd floor and there was no lift!! I had a chat with the front desk staff and they offered us a room on the ground floor but unfortunately the ground floor had no interconnecting rooms so we decided we'd give the 2nd floor a go. I very quickly learnt how to get up and down stairs with my crutches. The rooms were lovely and it was nice to be able to relax and collect ourselves for a while.
On Sunday night we caught up with some old friends Mark & Liz and their 2 daughters, Rachel and Gemma. We went to an old favourite restaurant - Pizza Express. I was delighted that they still had my all time favourite pizza on the menu - Veneziana. The kids had a lovely time and it was so nice to catch up with old friends - now in a very different situation with 4 kids between us!
On Monday, we had a lovely day exploring Surrey again and just chilling out. On Tuesday, our flight was at 10:30pm so we asked the hotel if we could have late checkout. They told us it was 10 pounds an hour after 1pm and we organised to have the room till 4pm. They didn't end up charging us the extra 30 pounds which was again, so nice of them. We had a nice easy day and then at 4pm, checked out and drove to a nearby playground we had seen earlier in the day. The kids had a brilliant time playing and then we went to another of our favourite pubs on the river for dinner before driving to Heathrow. It was a lovely relaxing few days in Surrey despite me being on crutches and leg in a splint.
Gary did the drive back to Heathrow - our trusty GPS got us there without an issue and we managed to check in without a hitch. Gatwick definitely wins the prize for assistance. Heathrow was a lady with a wheelchair who was very kind. In Singapore we had a guy who crashed me into a number of objects and was going so fast that poor Tara was running to try to keep up. Eventually Gary asked him if he could take the hand luggage and Gary pushed me. The guy was a bit clueless. Anyway, we made it back to Singapore in 1 piece.
A big shout out to Gary for managing 2 toddlers, 2 heavy suitcases, 4 items of hand luggage and a wife on crutches. What a champion.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Skiing in Tignes
Early in the morning on Sunday March 18th, (our 6th wedding anniversary and UK Mothers Day), we headed on the shuttle bus to the airport and checked in for our flight to Chambery. I've never seen so many kids on a flight. The plane was 80% families with young kids. The flight was uneventful (good) and we arrived at Chambery but then had to wait for all the other flights to arrive to get our transfer to Tignes. Overall, it was a long travel day with a 2.5 hour bus ride but everyone travelled well. We checked into Chalet Corniche - our home for the next 7 days. It was very nice and the kids were very excited to see real snow. We went to hire skis and boots and lugged them back to the Chalet. The company we travelled with Espirit Ski, had a great schedule of kids dinner at 5:45 and then cocktails and hors d'ourves for adults at 7:30. A baby sitter sat outside the kids bedroom listening to ensure they stayed in bed (was never a problem with our 2)! What a great setup! We had a fabulous week. The kids went off to childcare in the morning and had a 2 hour ski lesson in the afternoon. They were exhausted each night and slept really well, whilst both being keen to go back the next day for more fun. We went to the Tignes swimming pool one afternoon, which was great - having a dip whilst looking out the window at snow covered mountains.
Gary and I got our 'ski legs' back (it was our first ski holiday in 5.5 years). Despite doing a black run on the first day (by accident - misread the map!), we had loads of fun and the snow was a delight. On our last day skiing (Saturday 25th), we took the kids in the Gondola up aeroski to have a hot chocolate at the top. What a beautiful place. We then took them down and played in the snow which was exhausting. We dropped them off at lunch time with the childcare team and we went off for our final afternoon's skiing together. We went on a couple of lifts, did a few smooth runs and were heading down on a blue run. I was pointing completely downhill and had the thought that it was a bit further to the bottom than I had originally thought so I'd better put a turn in. I went to turn and obviously misjudged, it went wrong, I crossed my skis and ended up with both skis and 1 pole up the mountain. My initial thoughts were "well that was silly, and I've slightly hurt my knee, I don't think we will ski much more today, what a shame". There was a lovely older French couple who stopped to help me as Gary was down the bottom of the mountain. They rescued my skis and pole and helped me up. I was explaining my knee was a bit sore but I thought it was alright. The man looked at my ski and it was slightly broken. He was able to fix it but warned me that I shouldn't ski much with it as it needed to be looked at. I then tried to clip into my ski. I put my toe of my boot in and went to push my heel down. My whole left leg went to jelly and collapsed underneath me. I freaked out a bit with that and realised I couldn't walk. The kind French couple helped me out, he skied to Gary holding my skis, she took my poles and I slid down on my bottom. We explained it all to Gary and then asked the French couple to call mountain rescue for us. What a saga. Ski patrol came very quickly. I told the guy what happened and he immediately said "ligaments". I was a bit puzzled as I wasn't in much pain but he said it was most probably torn ligaments and sometimes they weren't immediately painful. The ski rescue medic then came to take me down to the bottom. Whee, off in the sled I went, with my leg in an air cast. We were met at the bottom by the ambulance who took us to the Tignes medical centre. Gary skied down and met us there. I was examined by a doctor and he confirmed after x-ray 2 torn ligaments. Once Gary arrived at the medical centre, he was given the pharmacy shopping list and after a while, he was back with a brace, crutches, pain killers and DVT prevention injections. Wow! What a spectacular end to our holiday.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Our European holiday - part 1 - England
We last went back to Europe 4 years ago when Alex was just 9 months old. During that trip we found out we were expecting Tara and although we had a great time, it was hard work. So it was with both excitement and trepidation that we prepared for our European holiday. The one thing that concerned me the most was the 14 hour flight and how the kids would manage. Having done the trip by myself just 4 weeks earlier (for a work trip, therefore at the front of the bus), I was nervous about the long flight. Also Gary had been ill for a few weeks before we went with a hacking cough and the cold also was a concern. We left Changi around midnight on March 10th. The kids were troopers, mainly excited about the trip and both were asleep as soon as we boarded, before the plane had got in the air. Alex desperately tried to stay awake but tiredness won out. So far so good. I managed a bit of sleep on the plane as did Gary, but it's still a long flight! We landed at Heathrow in the early hours and got to the car rental around 6am. That was all very smooth although a bit daunting leaving in the dark and wet. However our trusty GPS managed to navigate us onto the M25 and the M1. Both kids got a bit more sleep in the car and the drive to Nottingham was pretty good. We were at Gary's parents place by 8:30 even after a coffee stop. We picked up Ann and continued driving to Chesterfield in the peak district. Jet lag was kicking in fast, so it was great to finally arrive at our 3 bedroom cottage. What a beautiful place. We stayed at Cowclose Barn and it was superb. Comfortable, warm, welcoming - a freshly baked cake to welcome us. Ah, England!
We had 3 nights in the Peak District and it was lovely. We had a trip to Chatsworth House (farm animals and great playground) and generally enjoyed catching up with Ann and having family time. On the Wednesday we drove Ann back to Nottingham and headed off towards Glastonbury. The kids were troopers in the car - iPads helped! We checked into our home for the next 3 nights and caught up with Holly - Gary's older sister. We also were fortunate to spend an afternoon with Gary's cousin Sarah, her husband David and daughter Megan. The kids bonded immediately. What a lovely few days. On St Patricks Day we headed off again to Gatwick. We checked into the Marriott at Gatwick airport and were ready for our early morning flight to France the following day.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Christmas Newsletter 2011
Singapore Tales – 2011
Dear Family & Friends,
Well, where did that year go? I find myself at December 31st, looking back on the year that was and wondering about how quickly each year now passes by. And having just re-read my 2010 newsletter (sent on Christmas Eve – I’m slipping), I commented on the same thing! Here in Singapore we have had a good year and we are very thankful for a number of things, mostly our health and for the love and support of our family and friends.
We have had a number of fun family holidays this year. We dubbed 2011, “The Year of Club Med”. It wasn’t intended that way, but it started out heading to Bintan (Indonesian Island 45 minutes ferry ride from Singapore) in Feb 2011 for a long weekend. A few people from work had mentioned they enjoyed Club Med so I checked on the internet, found a deal and booked our weekend. What a weekend we had. The kids both went for mornings to “Petit Club” where they do all sorts of activities, drawing, swimming, nature walks etc. Gary and I enjoyed our mornings “off” with yoga, Thai boxing, lazing on the beach etc. It was a brilliant 4 days so when it came time to book our next holiday, we decided to try Club Med Phuket, (again – got a great deal – I am an accountant after all). We went to Phuket for a week in May and again, a fabulous time had by all. We then managed to dash back to Bintan for another long weekend in September and then had a week in Cherating Beach Malaysia in November. It was a year of holidays that were about rest and relaxing – not something we’ve focused on much before, but having 2 active toddlers makes this much more of a focus!
I also had a long weekend visit to Adelaide in August to help my siblings clear our Mum’s place (Mum has now moved to assisted accommodation). Thanks to Gary for taking all of the childcare (and to Anelen!!) I also managed to sneak away in late October for a ‘girl’s weekend’ in Phuket with Karen & Rachel. What a fun time and yes, I know how lucky I am to have an understanding husband (who is looking forward to a couple of trips away by himself next year - edited by Gary) as well as a great helper! Our latest holiday was our Christmas trip to Siem Reap. A Cambodian Christmas was different, but we all had a great time. It is the most underdeveloped place we have visited (as a family) but still quite touristy and this obviously makes it easier to travel around. We spent Christmas Day visiting Angkor Thom and then had a traditional Cambodian Christmas lunch (fried rice, satay and ginger pork) which was enjoyed by all. It was a really lovely family Christmas.
The kids were rather captivated by Siem Reap, so many things to see that they have never seen before. They loved the tuk-tuks but felt Mummy and Daddy should not off been holding on to them quite as much as they were! (Alex’s comment “It’s not so much fun when you put your arm around me”).
In 2012 we are looking forward to a return to England (first time since 2008) in March. We will be in the UK for a week, before heading to Tignes for a ski holiday (I hope the kids like the cold!) and then back to London for a couple of nights before our return to Singapore.
Both of the kids are doing really well and enjoying their life here in Singapore. They are attending a kindergarten / nursery school called “Alphabet Playhouse” which is a couple of hundred metres walk from our condo. Tara began the year going 3 mornings a week and then went to 5 mornings when I returned to full time work (in June). She loves her teacher and seems to be learning a lot, they both pop out with Chinese numbers and songs on occasion. Alex has made a number of new friends in his class and seems to be really enjoying his time at nursery. He had homework every weekend (something Tara was a little upset to miss out on) and has made great progress in writing and colouring this year. Alex turned 4 in late July and till the day of his birthday declared he was “3 and a half”. Tara is much the same, I told her this morning that today is the last day she can say “I’m only 2 Mummy”. Tara is turning 3 tomorrow and very excited about her birthday.
Work wise, we have had a year of stability with our jobs – Gary having just started his new job at Credit Suisse in November last year has now been in the role for over a year and feels part of the furniture. Gary travelled with work to Pune, India a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed his time there. My job at Diageo has been the same this year, but I’m very happy to say that as of Jan 16th, I am moving to a new role that will hopefully be a lot more interesting than my current role. After two and half years here we feel like we are finally on the right ground work wise, up until now either one or both of us have been at least unhappy and at times furious with our employers. We are looking forward to what will certainly be a challenging but hopefully also rewarding 2012, both of us doing things we are interested in.
We are now truly settled into our home, we moved 14 months ago and are still happy and enjoying our home on River Valley Road. We just discovered a few new bars on the river a short easy walk from home. We spent a rather relieved lunch there a few weeks back, one of the few times when I’ve sunk a couple of pints at a lunch in the last few years! (Gary)
We have had a few visitors this year. Gary’s Mum was with us for the start of the year and then just after Ann left, Roger came over from KL in February. Allisa came for a week in March, shortly after Roger’s departure. We caught up with Paula who was visiting Singapore in June where we discovered a fabulous Japanese restaurant (must go back). My brother John, his wife Jenny and their 3 girls were in Singapore in July. It was fantastic to spend time with them and for all of the cousins to be reacquainted. Gary’s Mum was back in July for Alex’s birthday and Gary’s birthday in August. We also had fleeting visits from my nephew Daniel (actually this was late 2010), Tricia, Jim & Tegan, Ann-Marie & Ross and my cousin David. We love seeing people here and being able to show off some of what Singapore has to offer so if you are calling through, do let us know!
All in all it’s been a good year where we have found some stability to see us through the next few years here, although a few unexpected challenges came our way in the closing months just to keep us on our toes.
I hope that this finds you all well and happy and hope that 2012 is a great year for you all.
Dear Family & Friends,
Well, where did that year go? I find myself at December 31st, looking back on the year that was and wondering about how quickly each year now passes by. And having just re-read my 2010 newsletter (sent on Christmas Eve – I’m slipping), I commented on the same thing! Here in Singapore we have had a good year and we are very thankful for a number of things, mostly our health and for the love and support of our family and friends.
We have had a number of fun family holidays this year. We dubbed 2011, “The Year of Club Med”. It wasn’t intended that way, but it started out heading to Bintan (Indonesian Island 45 minutes ferry ride from Singapore) in Feb 2011 for a long weekend. A few people from work had mentioned they enjoyed Club Med so I checked on the internet, found a deal and booked our weekend. What a weekend we had. The kids both went for mornings to “Petit Club” where they do all sorts of activities, drawing, swimming, nature walks etc. Gary and I enjoyed our mornings “off” with yoga, Thai boxing, lazing on the beach etc. It was a brilliant 4 days so when it came time to book our next holiday, we decided to try Club Med Phuket, (again – got a great deal – I am an accountant after all). We went to Phuket for a week in May and again, a fabulous time had by all. We then managed to dash back to Bintan for another long weekend in September and then had a week in Cherating Beach Malaysia in November. It was a year of holidays that were about rest and relaxing – not something we’ve focused on much before, but having 2 active toddlers makes this much more of a focus!
I also had a long weekend visit to Adelaide in August to help my siblings clear our Mum’s place (Mum has now moved to assisted accommodation). Thanks to Gary for taking all of the childcare (and to Anelen!!) I also managed to sneak away in late October for a ‘girl’s weekend’ in Phuket with Karen & Rachel. What a fun time and yes, I know how lucky I am to have an understanding husband (who is looking forward to a couple of trips away by himself next year - edited by Gary) as well as a great helper! Our latest holiday was our Christmas trip to Siem Reap. A Cambodian Christmas was different, but we all had a great time. It is the most underdeveloped place we have visited (as a family) but still quite touristy and this obviously makes it easier to travel around. We spent Christmas Day visiting Angkor Thom and then had a traditional Cambodian Christmas lunch (fried rice, satay and ginger pork) which was enjoyed by all. It was a really lovely family Christmas.
The kids were rather captivated by Siem Reap, so many things to see that they have never seen before. They loved the tuk-tuks but felt Mummy and Daddy should not off been holding on to them quite as much as they were! (Alex’s comment “It’s not so much fun when you put your arm around me”).
In 2012 we are looking forward to a return to England (first time since 2008) in March. We will be in the UK for a week, before heading to Tignes for a ski holiday (I hope the kids like the cold!) and then back to London for a couple of nights before our return to Singapore.
Both of the kids are doing really well and enjoying their life here in Singapore. They are attending a kindergarten / nursery school called “Alphabet Playhouse” which is a couple of hundred metres walk from our condo. Tara began the year going 3 mornings a week and then went to 5 mornings when I returned to full time work (in June). She loves her teacher and seems to be learning a lot, they both pop out with Chinese numbers and songs on occasion. Alex has made a number of new friends in his class and seems to be really enjoying his time at nursery. He had homework every weekend (something Tara was a little upset to miss out on) and has made great progress in writing and colouring this year. Alex turned 4 in late July and till the day of his birthday declared he was “3 and a half”. Tara is much the same, I told her this morning that today is the last day she can say “I’m only 2 Mummy”. Tara is turning 3 tomorrow and very excited about her birthday.
Work wise, we have had a year of stability with our jobs – Gary having just started his new job at Credit Suisse in November last year has now been in the role for over a year and feels part of the furniture. Gary travelled with work to Pune, India a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed his time there. My job at Diageo has been the same this year, but I’m very happy to say that as of Jan 16th, I am moving to a new role that will hopefully be a lot more interesting than my current role. After two and half years here we feel like we are finally on the right ground work wise, up until now either one or both of us have been at least unhappy and at times furious with our employers. We are looking forward to what will certainly be a challenging but hopefully also rewarding 2012, both of us doing things we are interested in.
We are now truly settled into our home, we moved 14 months ago and are still happy and enjoying our home on River Valley Road. We just discovered a few new bars on the river a short easy walk from home. We spent a rather relieved lunch there a few weeks back, one of the few times when I’ve sunk a couple of pints at a lunch in the last few years! (Gary)
We have had a few visitors this year. Gary’s Mum was with us for the start of the year and then just after Ann left, Roger came over from KL in February. Allisa came for a week in March, shortly after Roger’s departure. We caught up with Paula who was visiting Singapore in June where we discovered a fabulous Japanese restaurant (must go back). My brother John, his wife Jenny and their 3 girls were in Singapore in July. It was fantastic to spend time with them and for all of the cousins to be reacquainted. Gary’s Mum was back in July for Alex’s birthday and Gary’s birthday in August. We also had fleeting visits from my nephew Daniel (actually this was late 2010), Tricia, Jim & Tegan, Ann-Marie & Ross and my cousin David. We love seeing people here and being able to show off some of what Singapore has to offer so if you are calling through, do let us know!
All in all it’s been a good year where we have found some stability to see us through the next few years here, although a few unexpected challenges came our way in the closing months just to keep us on our toes.
I hope that this finds you all well and happy and hope that 2012 is a great year for you all.
A few pictures of our year (not in chronological order!!)
With cousins from Adelaide - July 2011
Swimming in pool at Cherating Beach Malaysia - November 2011
On the beach at Bintan - Indonesia - September 2011
Christmas lunch - Siem Reap - Cambodia - December 25, 2011
Elephant Parade - Singapore Zoo - November 2011
With Granny Ann at Jurong Bird Park - Singapore - August 2011
With Captain Mark - Phuket - Thailand - May 2011
With great friend Lilah on Alex's 4th birthday - July 2011
Watching a monitor lizard at Cherating Beach - Malaysia - November 2011
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Christmas Newsletter 2010
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all of our friends and family.
Here, I find myself at Christmas Eve already. How did that happen? Where has the time gone? My goodness, what a year 2010 has been.
We began the year with Alex starting at the local kindergarten across the road from home 5 mornings per week for 3 hours. This was great for Alex who enjoyed the stimulation and going to ‘school’ with other kids from our condo. He had a lovely teacher Miss Leong and enjoyed learning Mandarin and lots of other bits and pieces. He went to True Way for the whole year and in 2011 will be attending a new pre-school close to our new place called Alphabet Playhouse. He is looking forward to starting again in the new year and hopefully it will be a good environment for him. Tara will also begin in 2011, 3 mornings per week. Hopefully she will enjoy this too.
A month ago, we moved house. We are reasonably settled into our new place now and have met a few other families living in the condo. Our new place seems very family friendly. They actually put on a Christmas party for the condo kids a couple of weeks ago and it was manic!! There were so many kids there.
In February of 2010, we had our first visitor for the year when Roger came over from Malaysia for a few days visit. It was fun to have him stay with us and we enjoyed catching up after many years.
In late February, I decided to dip a toe in the water so to speak and look into the possibility of going back to work. My ideal was to get part time work – but I soon found out this is not very common at all in Singapore. I ended up taking a 6 month contract role that was full time with Diageo. I began work in March and it was a bit of an adjustment (I think more so for me than for the children!) It was great to get back to work, I realized I missed the mental stimulation, but I also missed the kids a lot.
We had a short trip to Bangkok in late March and visited Gary’s uncle & aunt. It was fun taking the kids to visit relatives they hadn’t met yet. It was lovely to catch up with Neville & Ann again too.
In April, we had our first family holiday and went to Bali for 10 days. It’s always insightful travelling with kids and hindsight is a wonderful thing. We had a lovely time, but would probably do things a bit differently next time. However, it was a relaxing break and time away. When we got back to Singapore, we caught up with Nat, Colm and their 2 girls Orla and Niamh who were on their way to Ireland. It was lovely to catch up with friends from Adelaide.
In June, we had our first trip to the emergency room with Alex – he freakishly broke his arm whilst running down the corridor at home on a Friday morning. It was very traumatic, but as nearly 3 year olds do, he really took it in his stride and adjusted to his cast in no time (which was only on for 3 ½ weeks!)
In September, we had a holiday back to Adelaide. Again, a learning experience travelling with children (always pack spare clothes not just for the kids was a big lesson after Tara vomited over me as the plane was landing in Adelaide). It was nice to be home and to be able to catch up with friends and family. It was also nice to cool off a bit and experience some cooler weather!
After we returned from Australia, I started working 4 days per week as my 6 month contract had finished and I managed to negotiate 1 day off per week. It’s really nice having that balance. I don’t know how long it will last, but I am enjoying it while I have it!
In November, we caught up with our friends from London / Australia Karen & Tom and their boys Thomas and James. They are moving to Singapore in the new year and were here taking a look around. It was great to catch up and will be very nice to have some old friends moving over here too.
Gary got a new job at Credit Suisse and started at the beginning of November. He is enjoying being back in the banking world. Aside from work, Gary has been quite active with dragon boating in 2010. He took part in a couple of races and we are both training (me on a much lower scale), but it’s great fun and a good team environment. We are paddling with the Singapore British Dragons – a great bunch of people.
Alex and Tara are doing really well. Tara will be 2 on New Year’s Eve and is talking a lot now. Communication is a great thing and I think she enjoys making herself understood with words! Alex is such a chatterbox and amazes us with some of the stuff he comes out with. He is excited about Christmas this year, much more so than in the past.
This year for Christmas we are joined by both of our mothers. Ann (Gary’s Mum) has been with us for a few weeks now and in January will go to Thailand to visit her brother & sister in law. My Mum arrived yesterday from Adelaide and will be with us till Tara’s birthday.
Sorry this is a short, very abridged version of our 2010. Time has just got away from me completely. I wish you all a safe and peaceful Christmas and New Year.
At the Monkey Temple - Ubud - Bali
Feeling the cold on Glenelg Jetty - Adelaide - September 2010
Why let a broken arm stop you from having fun?
Tara & Alex at Hort Park
Gary performing for Divas Dragonboating comp.
Theo, Alex & Tara at Hazelwood Park - September 2010
Tara waiting for cake on Daddy's Birthday - August 2010
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Wow - I've been so lax.....
Well, I just looked and it's been 3 months since I posted on here. How slack of me. What can I say - we've been busy!! Life is good, can't complain. I won't try to go in to all we've been up to over the past 3 months as that would send everyone to sleep.
Our life in general. My babies are growing up so quickly. Alex will be 3 in 6 weeks time and Tara is 17 months now. They are generally getting on pretty well together with the normal sibling stuff. It's lovely to see them playing and laughing together. They both light up my life. If I call Alex my baby, he says "I'm not a baby, I'm a boy". And to "Little Alex" he says, "no Mummy, I'm big Alex".
We have had some fun outings of late. Tomorrow we are going to see the Wiggles in concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. That should be great fun - Alex has been a fan of the Wiggles for a while now and Tara loves to dance around to the music.
Gary and I are both dragon boating now. We joined the British team and it's a lot of fun. Gary has done a couple of races. Tomorrow (after the Wiggles), Gary is participating in the Queens Commonwealth Games Baton run or something like that where the British team accompany the Singapore national team in taking the baton between the Merlion and the Singapore Flyer. I hope they don't drop it!!
We had a great family holiday in Bali in April. 10 days of relaxation. Learnt a few more things about travelling with kids too. It's always a learning experience.
We spent a weekend in Bangkok with Neville & Ann in late March. It was lovely to see them again. We also had friends from Adelaide (Nat, Colm, Orla and Niamh) come to visit for a weekend in April. Fun times and a lovely dinner out at the Fullerton hotel.
I have been working for a couple of months now and love some parts of it, others aren't so great. I wish I could find more of a balance with time in the office vs time with the kids, but hopefully that will come. The good thing is that the kids seem to be coping really well with everything. Our weekends were always family time and fun time with the kids but now they are even more so!
I went to the cinema on Monday night to see "Sex and the City 2". Lame movie, but the cinema was great - we went to Gold Class which is lounge seats and waiter service. Awesome!!! I will take Gary to experience this sometime soon too.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Where did the last month go?
Wow, it's been a month since I last posted here. So much seems to have happened - life is busy but good fun.
Today, I did my first ever 'fun run' in Singapore. It was only 5km but wow, it felt like longer. I have been running at the gym generally 3 times a week for the last few months and I am feeling relatively fit, but the thing that I didn't take into consideration was how much the elements when running outside affect you. However, I managed to do it in around 29 minutes, I was hoping to be under 30 so felt good about the achievement. I have signed up to do a 10km run in May - but it is at 4pm on a Saturday!! Not sure if this is a sensible time to run in May. Oh well, I think I will concede that if I am tired, it's ok to stop for a bit and walk.
Alex has finished his first term at nursery and is on 'school' holidays this coming week. We have planned a few fun things - catching up with friends, going to the zoo and maybe the science centre too. He seems to be really enjoying his time at nursery and I am very grateful for that. It is incredibly handy as it is just across the road from us.
My big news is that this coming week, I will return to work after a nearly 15 month break. I had started to look for some part time work at the beginning of the year. Part time work is very hard to come by in Singapore - it's not really something that people do in my field anyway. I had talked to a few people and 2 weeks ago, a recruitment agent called me to talk about a contract role for maternity leave cover. It is however full time (but for a 6 month period). I had a phone interview the following day and this seemed to go pretty well. The next day they arranged to have a face to face interview last Monday. This also went well and on Tuesday morning I was offered the contract. I am excited and nervous about it. I will miss the kids loads, but they are both in great routines at the moment. Tara has good morning and afternoon sleeps and Alex has 3 hours at nursery in the morning followed by an afternoon sleep when he comes home. I suspect the person who will have the most adjustment is me - the kids will probably take it in their stride as they do most things. I have explained to Alex about Mummy going back to work and he seems fine with this - although he did suggest that Daddy could then stay home with him. Did Gary put him up to this?
I think (just depending on the paperwork) that I will start work on Thursday. It will be a relatively soft start as we have a long weekend in Bangkok next weekend (pending the protests being safe!) and then from Easter, I am off for 3 weeks due to Anelen going on home leave and our family holiday in Bali. So, it should hopefully be an easy transition. I am really looking forward to going back to work - I hope it lives up to my expectations!
I am trying to think of what else we have been up to over the past few weeks. 2 weeks ago, we had our friend Roger (from London) come to visit from Malaysia. Roger was spending some time in KL and decided to pop over to Singapore for a couple of nights. It was lovely to catch up - the last time we all saw each other was around 6.5 years ago at a bbq we had at our house in Walton on Thames!
We have moved Alex into Tara's bedroom at night. This seems to work really well - Tara loves the company and Alex loves the audience. Alex still naps during the day in his own bedroom (in the big bed) and this setup seems to be working.
We went to the zoo a few weeks ago. This was the first time we have been in a while and we ended up at Kidzworld (as we inevitably do). Normally Gary will go in the water with Alex and Tara and I will play a little on the side. I decided I should probably get wet and let Tara embrace it a little more. She loved it. She was so excited going down the slide, she was racing around all over the place. Alex now loves the big bucket of water that dumps down on top every few minutes - he used to be quite scared by it. How things move on! We think for Gary's next family day, we will go to have breakfast with the Orangutans again - we did this for Alex's birthday last year and it was fabulous, but I suspect both the kids will get a lot out of it now.
Last weekend, we re-visited Queenstown fire station with our friends Francesca, Lilah & Isaac (from our condo) and Rachel & Sennen. It was a great time. Alex loves the fire station - they have open house on a Saturday morning and it is such an adventure with the kids. Alex and I got to drive around the yard in the fire truck and Alex got to hold the fireman's hose. He was also delighted with the coming down the pole! A fun time!
Today, I did my first ever 'fun run' in Singapore. It was only 5km but wow, it felt like longer. I have been running at the gym generally 3 times a week for the last few months and I am feeling relatively fit, but the thing that I didn't take into consideration was how much the elements when running outside affect you. However, I managed to do it in around 29 minutes, I was hoping to be under 30 so felt good about the achievement. I have signed up to do a 10km run in May - but it is at 4pm on a Saturday!! Not sure if this is a sensible time to run in May. Oh well, I think I will concede that if I am tired, it's ok to stop for a bit and walk.
Alex has finished his first term at nursery and is on 'school' holidays this coming week. We have planned a few fun things - catching up with friends, going to the zoo and maybe the science centre too. He seems to be really enjoying his time at nursery and I am very grateful for that. It is incredibly handy as it is just across the road from us.
My big news is that this coming week, I will return to work after a nearly 15 month break. I had started to look for some part time work at the beginning of the year. Part time work is very hard to come by in Singapore - it's not really something that people do in my field anyway. I had talked to a few people and 2 weeks ago, a recruitment agent called me to talk about a contract role for maternity leave cover. It is however full time (but for a 6 month period). I had a phone interview the following day and this seemed to go pretty well. The next day they arranged to have a face to face interview last Monday. This also went well and on Tuesday morning I was offered the contract. I am excited and nervous about it. I will miss the kids loads, but they are both in great routines at the moment. Tara has good morning and afternoon sleeps and Alex has 3 hours at nursery in the morning followed by an afternoon sleep when he comes home. I suspect the person who will have the most adjustment is me - the kids will probably take it in their stride as they do most things. I have explained to Alex about Mummy going back to work and he seems fine with this - although he did suggest that Daddy could then stay home with him. Did Gary put him up to this?
I think (just depending on the paperwork) that I will start work on Thursday. It will be a relatively soft start as we have a long weekend in Bangkok next weekend (pending the protests being safe!) and then from Easter, I am off for 3 weeks due to Anelen going on home leave and our family holiday in Bali. So, it should hopefully be an easy transition. I am really looking forward to going back to work - I hope it lives up to my expectations!
I am trying to think of what else we have been up to over the past few weeks. 2 weeks ago, we had our friend Roger (from London) come to visit from Malaysia. Roger was spending some time in KL and decided to pop over to Singapore for a couple of nights. It was lovely to catch up - the last time we all saw each other was around 6.5 years ago at a bbq we had at our house in Walton on Thames!
We have moved Alex into Tara's bedroom at night. This seems to work really well - Tara loves the company and Alex loves the audience. Alex still naps during the day in his own bedroom (in the big bed) and this setup seems to be working.
We went to the zoo a few weeks ago. This was the first time we have been in a while and we ended up at Kidzworld (as we inevitably do). Normally Gary will go in the water with Alex and Tara and I will play a little on the side. I decided I should probably get wet and let Tara embrace it a little more. She loved it. She was so excited going down the slide, she was racing around all over the place. Alex now loves the big bucket of water that dumps down on top every few minutes - he used to be quite scared by it. How things move on! We think for Gary's next family day, we will go to have breakfast with the Orangutans again - we did this for Alex's birthday last year and it was fabulous, but I suspect both the kids will get a lot out of it now.
Last weekend, we re-visited Queenstown fire station with our friends Francesca, Lilah & Isaac (from our condo) and Rachel & Sennen. It was a great time. Alex loves the fire station - they have open house on a Saturday morning and it is such an adventure with the kids. Alex and I got to drive around the yard in the fire truck and Alex got to hold the fireman's hose. He was also delighted with the coming down the pole! A fun time!
So, our last month has been full of more Singapore adventures. The kids are both growing up quickly - but at wonderful stages. They make me smile every day (which helps to make up for the other times when they make me crazy!!)
I will definitely try to keep up my blog with my return to work - just need to make time for it like everything else. Just to finish, a short video showing our baby girl in her glory - she loves meal time and was rather cross when I told her it wasn't dinner time yet......
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