Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Hunter Valley July 2014

**** old post, found in draft mode dated 16-07-14 ******

We went to Hunter Valley again! This time we stayed at Cypress Lakes for 3 nights (one of those mystery hotel deals). Kids loved the fact that the villa we stayed in was two-story high and the bedrooms were upstairs. "Upstairs" is a very big thing with our kids.

The main attraction this time was not the wineries. It was the Snow time in Hunter Valley Gardens. Kids played with 'fake' snow, saw an ice-sculpture, did ice-skating and loved the toboggan rides especially. I lost count of many times they/we did it!! The whole Snow time set up was not huge, but it attracted a huge crowd.

The other (food) highlights included lunch at Mojo's (Lara learned how to play chess with Daddy here), desserts at 'Sabor in Hunter'(divine coffee and desserts, lots of gluten free options!) and dinner at Harrigan's with friends (yummy!).
We visited only 3 wineries (Gundog, Mistletoe and Pig's Peak) but still bought over 2 cases of wines. It was a lovely short break!

Outdoor chess:


More chess at Cypress Lakes lobby:


Caught up with an old friend, the 3-legged dog we saw at Pukara Estate last year.


Still our favourite:

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

The P word

I can't believe I'm looking at stool chart but...
I have noticed Sam's poo looking quite different ever since his had the bad daycare tummy bug. I have never seen it looking like this before so wanted to find out what it meant. The stool definitely looked very much like a type 2 in the Bristol stool chart!
Type 2 is apparently a sign of constipation! Sam poos at least a couple of times a day and I believe it comes out easily. So how can that be constipation? I have increased the amount of vegetables we had in the last few days and now it looks more and more like a type 3. Is that a good sign? I don't really know.
I also read that increasing dietary fiber has only limited benefits, increasing the good old gut bacteria is the key. Sam's eczema is also worse and I know it's all related! The last batch of yogurt I made didn't come out too good and I have not made any for over two weeks now. It's time to make more yogurt and some more fermented veges!!

Monday, June 9, 2014

Bought

a 'Japanese' turnip bigger than Sam at the farmer's market over the long weekend!

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Puzzles

get completed quickly when:



the pieces sat on the coffee table and one picked up and tried to fit a piece every time he or she walked past :)

Monday, June 2, 2014

Vivid kids


On a Wednesday to avoid the crowd!



Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Taiwan 2014 - temples


We spent 2 and a half weeks in Taiwan this April. It was a much anticipated trip, Lara's first Taiwan trip and my first in 14 years! For various reasons, it was decided the girls went with Weipo and the boys stayed back, a decision I was unsure to start with and Simon regretted it later, but we had a fabulous girls' time!

There are so many memories to write down. I might start with one of Lara's favorite places, the Buddhist temples. They are in every corners of Taiwan but you don't see many of them here.

The LongShan temple


On our second day in Taiwan, we ventured out to one of the oldest temples in Taipei, the LongShan temple, only two MRT stops away from where we stayed. Lara's face lit up when we got there. As temples go, LongShan is big and very famous with a fake rocky mountain on one side, a man-made pond with fish next to it, big courtyards, rustic and majestic front, colourful carvings and dragons sitting on rooftops (as with most temples).

We got there in the mid afternoon during a worship session, in the middle of a long chant. We were greeted by the smell of the incense burning and the many locals and tourists who were there first. Lara was mesmerised by the song-like chanting and said to me excitedly "Mum can you teach me to sing this song?"!!
We walked around the different rooms but didn't stay for too long because Weipo sat outside waiting for us. Weipo is a Christian and didn't want to set foot in temples! (she did break this self-imposed rule later on:)



We would encounter many temples, big and small during our trip. Some we went in, some we walked past and some we caught glimpses of through moving vehicles. We took a couple of 'long' (note 1) train journeys and counting the number of temples we saw along the way became a popular game.

We learned to enter the temples on the right door and exit through the left. Lara became an old hand at kneeling down on stools (to prey) and lighting up the incense. We studied the faces of the various gods (even if we don't know their names) and enjoyed the nice serene feel when we were inside the temples, away from the noisy world.



Travel is great. It is through travel that we remember that we sometimes forget how big the world is, how small our thoughts get and how narrow our hearts become. we live in our own worlds, worry about our little problems and forget about the bigger pictures. It is a pity that the trip was too short and we all caught Sam's daycare tummy bug when we arrived home....

Note 1 : With the high speed rail (up to 300km/hr), what used to take 8 hours when I was young(from Taipei to Kaohsuing), now took 1.5 hours! No train rides are that long any more!

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Can Daddy go to Vietnam again?


Sam: Mum can we have burgers for dinner?
Me: Well... burgers are not gluren-free so Daddy can't eat it. Maybe we should have something else.
Sam: Mum, can Daddy go to Vietnam again?

Friday, March 21, 2014

Totoro

Watch totoro

If I have to pick the kids' favorite movie, it would have to be Totoro.
It was the movie they chose when we had special in-front-of-tv dinners (when Daddy was not home). It was the movie they chose when they couldn't agree on a movie to watch.

I found out 'Totoro' was playing at Chatswood concourse's outdoor screen and decided to take the kids to see it, even though it was on a school day (Tuesday).
I prepared way too much food and took Lara's school friend Jake, who also love this movie, with us.

It was a great afternoon!
(on 11/03/14)

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Art class

Art class

Monday, March 3, 2014

Love

Cake
the Kueh Lapis cake, a layed cake made with egg yolks from Singapore.
Simon bought it on his way back from Vietnam.

While Simon was away, I had to assume the role of the bad cop (normally his job).
I shouted at the kids more than ever (they seemed to be naughtier). I did not like being the bad cop!

I am glad I am the less shouty parent again :)

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Recently

Lara learning to knit

This is a recent photo of Lara. She is 7 years old and has lost 2 teeth just before Christmas. She goes to Grandma's after school one day a week. She is learning to knit when she is at Grandma's. What you can see in the photo is the beginning of a bear's scarf she said. Grandma is right-handed but tried and couldn't work out how to teach Lara to knit with her left hand (Lara is left-handed). Lara said to Grandma, teach me to knit with your right hand. I don't know how to knit with any hand and I will learn to do it with my right hand!

Sam rollerskate

This is 3 year old Sam. On this particular day, he already did 2 gymnastics trial classes in the morning (2 hours!). He came home and wanted to try the roller skates! He walked around with the roller skates but couldn't really skate (partly becasue our front garden was very uneven). I promised to take him to a park soon so he could try again.

This is why nothing is being updated in my blog!

Monday, November 25, 2013

More homemade buns

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Better looking and tastier.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Gold Coast October 2013

We had a short break in Golad Coast in October. Work was extremely busy before the holiday (I was even working away on the Sat night before we got on the plane). At around the same time, Dad decided to pop in from overseas for a short stay and only left the night before our departure. I hardly had any time to pack let alone being excited about going away.

From our aparatment -
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We stayed at a 2-bed serviced apartment on the 23rd floor at Broadbeach. I had this picture of us sitting on the balcony and enjoying the view in my head before we left but only realised how windy it was up there once we set foot on that balcony! I had to hold on to the rail in fear of beling blown away from the 23rd floor! The views were pretty good though(espeially at night).

Life in Gold coast was easy and relaxing. It involved coffee and park play early in the morning, followed by beach and lunch. Afternon was usually spent at the pool or back at the apartment to read or nap. There were many restaurants to choose from for dinner in walking distance and yummy gelato after (nearly) every dinner.

A great playground we only discovered the morning we left:( Untitled

The only (small) disappointment was the sea water was not as warm as we would like. The kids still ask when we will back so that is always a good sign that the week was well spent:)

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Sam the spiderman

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This is Lara's illustraion of Sam in his spiderman outfit.
Some days Sam lives in his spiderman outfit!

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

A bit of pruning

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We recently (in July!) had some pruning done in the garden. The main reason for this was a branch from the neighbour's Coral tree was leaning on the power cable to the house. We had seen it and noted it as 'work to do later'. After the rain a few of months ago, the branch seemed to drop lower thus the task suddenly moved to the top of the list.

The tree guys arrived at 7am and got to work straight away. They cut away the dead branches and pruning other overgrown branches. It was very exciting for the kids to watch all the actions and see how quick and high the arborist climbed up the tree. The garden looked so much better afterwards!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Treats

Yummy chicken laksa at Paparich.
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ps We ate at Paparich for a couple of weekends now. We tried chicken rice, biryani, char koay teow and roti. The Soya milk pudding drink was nice. Kids also liked the lychee soda.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Piggy buns

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I have been trying to make Chinese buns.
The first batch I made, I mixecd in some steamed pumpkin for an extra vegetable kick. To avoid mentioning the P word (Sam is not a fan of pumpkin), I called them 'Happy buns'. The buns were quite tasty, but they clapsed in the oven so they didn't have that nice "bun" shape. Sam can definitely tell it had something he didn't like in it :(
For the second batch, I filled the buns with chicken mince, vermicelli noodles, carrots and tofu pieces. To make them appeal to the kiddies more, I tried to make them look like pigs and called them "Piggy buns". Kids liked this version, but the buns didn't look like "pigs" after they came out of the steamer:(

I am keen to make some more and hope to learn to make "real" piggy buns soon!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Winter school holiday

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Besides the usual school holiday programs and playdates, Lara did some other fun activities during last school holiday:

Baking:
I was trying to get Lara into this kids baking class a friend told me about, but it was booked out for the rest of the year. Luckily, the friend who told me about it invited Lara to join them for a class they booked last year! Lara made some cinnamon and raisin scrolls, a yummy pizza and a koala bear with chocolate paws. The kids were all very creative and there were rabbit, star war battle field and a Roman among the creations. While the kids were busy baking, the adults had some yummy brunch and coffee. A great afternoon!

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Origami:
The origami workshop was run by the Janpanese foundation to celebrate "Tanabata, Japanese Star festival. The gallery it was held were decorated with colourful origami from previous workshops. Kids sat down to a story about Tanabata (a love fable originating from China about god/godess meeting over the milky way once a year), then divided into smaller groups to learn the art of origami. Have just recovered from a temperature, Lara only tried simple things like a lantern and a frog. Friend Sue's creative girls attempted a more intricate origami box.

Art Gallery of NSW:
I also took Lara to the Art Gallery for a Torrens Island art workshop during the holidays. I was sipping coffee at the Gallery cafe and waiting for Lara to finish her workshop in the morning when I heard over the speaker about the free guided tours. I decided to join the 'Highlight of the gallery' tour and learned so much about some of the paintings! We had a yummy lunch at the same cafe then stayed on for a free 'how to draw' workshop. All the kids got paper and pens and learned to draw faces in the right proportions. I think the how-to-draw workshop made a great impact on Lara because she now wants to be an illustrator when she grows up!

It's time to think about the next school holiday!

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Practice before school

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It has been a little challenging to get the violin practice in every night. I tend to leave it too late and Lara too tired by then. I'm trying again a short 15 minutes practice before school and see how we go.

Friday, August 23, 2013

Spiderman birthday

Sam's bday
Sam is really into superheroes at the moment, Spiderman is his favorite. For his 3rd birthday in early August, Sam got another Spiderman outfit, and superhero books among other things. Naturally I got him a spiderman birthday cake. I also made "web" cupcakes so he could share them with his friends in daycare. The week before his birthday, Sam was invited to a party in Chipmunks playcentre. He started asking for a party for his birthday after that, probably jsut realised you could invite "friends" to your party! We got away with just a family meal this year.

We still read spiderman, ironman and the incredible hulk stories most nights. But we had to buy kids-friendly Spiderman dvds, the adult ones (I just realised they are 15+ when the kids started to have nightmares) are simply too scary. Just the other day Sam came home with the daycare's spare spiderman undies (he had an accident). He pulled his pants down to show everyone his undies, and refused to take it off before his bath because he simply wanted to "hold it a little longer". Looks like the superheroes will stay in our house for awhile.