We live in NZ. My dad works in Brazil. My sis goes to Uni in Brissy. My bro just moved his family back to Singapore from Brissy last year. So, to get everyone in the same country at the same time is almost a miracle in itself!

We almost made it this time. Only person missing is Rachel, my sis.

To make full use of the occasion, my mom booked all of us in for 3 days in Bintan Lagoon Resort. Bintan, Indonesia is only an hour's ferry ride from Singapore. Very doable for short holidays for those with young children.

We had fun, even though it rained everyday! Sophie had fun at the pool and hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa and little Janice. Sophie hasn't seen Grandpa for a year and a half so she was really thrilled to hang out with him.

We even bumped into our distant relatives. They too were having a big family gathering – 2 grandparents, 2 kids and their other halves plus 6 grandchildren! They invited us to their villa for BBQ. I haven't seen them in ages although we are about the same age and grew up together. It was really good to catch up.

I love family holidays!

Then over to Brisbane for a week….

It was a nice and relaxing holiday. We’ve been coming to Brisbane once a year since Sophie was a baby. Her first trip to Brissy was at 7 months old when my bro, Kelvin, got married. She’s now 3 and a half and each trip we find ourselves doing different things as she got older. This time we just did the free stuff like the playground and museum. We also did a lot of shopping coz this little one LOVES shopping.

This trip was really just catching up with Rach, my sis (Soph calls her Yi yi) and Mel, one of my Serve youths from 2003 batch. We also got to know a new friend – Liwen who so kindly went with us to the Coast for shopping at HarbourTown.

Some highlights: -

Spending time with Yi yi

Cooked for Yi yi coz she babysat for us

Rach babysat Sophie while we went to watch Ironman 2 at South Bank! Woo hoo, our first out of the house Marriage Time since donno when!

Fish & Chips at Gold Coast

Hanging out with Mel

Baking with Yi yi

Wanna really thank Rach, Mel, Liwen and Pastor Wenan and Lillian and lil Elise for hosting us while we were in Brissy. And of course Joy and Han for kindly letting us stay at their apartment while they were away. Such blessings!!!

From Left: James, Esther, Eli, Gin, Evan and Sophie. The table was full of food!

Last year, Chinese New Year just passed us by! This year I was DETERMINED with a capital "D" to do something about it! And when I’m determined, I’m determined! Hiak!

Two weeks before, I started planning the menu and hyping it up with friends (Asian friends that is. I tried telling a non-asian friend about it and he was like huh?. ) I got down with Sophie and made her make some semblance of firecrackers, lanterns and Chinese fans with me… ok we tried. Then I went to the library and borrow a kids’ book on Chinese festivals and menus and I looked at it every night to drool… Finally, it wouldn’t have been complete if James didn’t make a trip to Auckland to buy all the foodstuff.

Left: We made these firecrackers with toilet rolls and crepe paper. Sophie made them on her own, very simple. I just showed her a couple samples.

Right: CNY is not CNY if the kitchen is not FILLED with food. Just looking at it made me so happy. Felt like home…

So on Chinese New Year eve, here was what we had:- steamboat dinner with chicken stock I made, hot pot mix, waxed duck, roast duck, stir-fry veg with chinese mushrooms, prawn mix chicken wings and dumplings! We even had durian after dinner! We ate till we had to roll out of our seats! It’s not a CNY meal if we didn’t eat till we dropped and have leftovers.

Hope everyone had a wonderful lunar New Year celebration with friends and family. We missed everyone back home and it’s really not the same without you guys.

We’re in Christchurch for a short holiday over Christmas and New Year’s.

Our first stop??? A Korean restaurant! Oooo so shiok the kimchi and other appetizers…..

We are really enjoying our break.

So, what have we been doing?

1. Cooking – The base kitchen is closed between schools, which is GREAT! We get to cook all we like to eat. I’ve been cooking and baking everyday and totally enjoying it. Lamb is so cheap here and we’ve been eating all we can. Also, we are all attempting to put on the weight which we lost the past months. Esp for Sophie and I! Actually Sophie put on weight but she is so tall, it really doesn’t show at all! She’s now 95 cm and 12.2kg. 95cm! That’s definitely not from me!

Cabbage in Oyster Sauce + Herbal Chicken Soup (Heaven!)

2. Playing – Sophie is totally enjoying her books and toys again. Slowing down has been great coz that means that Sophie gets to play with us everyday! She really really enjoys that.

3. Shopping! – Gin and I have been going shopping almost everyday. Ya we’ve been to Tauranga, Hamilton (2x!) and of course to our local supermarkets and good ole Warehouse. It’s funny how there’s not much to buy but just so nice to look around! The kids are getting better at shopping with us so it’s been great. In fact we just spent today at the local weekend market and drove to Hamilton for some retail therapy. Of course we only end up buying stuff for the kids. Bad habit!

4. Base stuff – The base still needs ongoing maintenance even when we are in between schools. If not we’ll get overgrown by weeds! Yep so we’ve been spending some mornings in the garden just weeding and cleaning up.

Weeding in the garden. Check out the blue summer sky!

5. Fishing – This only refers to James. He’s been going fishing everyday! In fact he’s gone deep sea fishing today with some of the people from the base. God blessed them with a free boat – a friend lent it to them. He’s very very happy about that.

6. Getting ready for Christmas – Sophie and I have been making cards and wrapping and posting presents. This is the first time we’re away from home during Christmas! We are so missing all our friends back home.

7. Planning for our short trip to Christchurch – Woo hoo! We’re going to meet up with some friends in Christchurch and that includes Vicky and Jasper who are getting married TODAY. I’ve been researching and going to start to book the flights and lodging. Can’t wait!

8. Finally, we’re enjoying summer. It’s so nice to see my legs and feet again. So happy to bring out the summer clothes!

We’re now in Brisbane to visit my bro and sis with my mum, dad is working in Brazil.

Totally enjoying the time spent with my family. So happy.

We’re all heading to the Gold Coast tomorrow for 3 days! So glad that we made the decision to make a detour to Brissy before heading to NZ.

Sophie’s been such a che che. She’s always watching out for Janice. She was playing with Janice yesterday morning on the floor. When I took her away to eat her breakfast on the high chair, Janice started crying. And Sophie said, "I think she needs to see me." Hahahah… It’s true, whenever Janice sees Sophie, she’s happy.

Daddy we miss you!

Pa (James’ dad) has many friends in China so we’ve been having meals after meals. Yesterday night we had two dinners! One of which was a wonderful home cooked meal. It was typical Chinese style entertaining – check out the number of dishes! 10!

This is the home of the son of an old family friend of my father in law. Now we have three generations of friendship. Sophie had so much fun playing with the two kids that she cried when we had to leave. I’m really glad that relationships are very important to her.

I feel a bit sad that in China, since the late 70s, each couple is only allowed to have one child. Must be so tough for some and yet most have gotten used to that and enjoy having only one precious child. On Sunday, I could see the fathers happily carrying their kids and holding hands with them, no matter girl or boy, and enjoying the time they had together. Very precious.

We’re back in Kunming.

Right after church on Sunday, while waiting for my in laws, Sophie decided to perform on the streets. She started singing Hallelujah Praise Ye the Lord. Watching too much Chinese opera on TV in the hotel…

Right outside the church we attended on Sunday

Erhai Lake, Da Li

My parents in law finished teaching at the bible school yesterday morning. So, in the afternoon, we went to do some sightseeing. Erhai Lake is translated as ear lake because it is shaped like an ear. It is the second largest highland lake in China.

Sophie absolutely loved being able to run in the open, picking up sticks and eating fresh fruit which we bought from a lady in traditional costume. I think she has had enough shopping. You should see her smile when she saw the open space! She looks like Moses trying to part the red sea except she’s pointing in the wrong direction……

See more photos on Facebook.

Yang Ren Jie aka Foreigner Street, Old Town, Da Li

We spent yesterday morning checking out Foreigner Street. It’s a street with restaurants and shops catered for the tourists. We bought a few handicrafts, books and even some 100% pure wool shawls. The design and quality of the goods found on this street are relatively better than those on the other main streets but of course we do pay a little bit more. Still, it’s very affordable, for example, we paid only less than S$50 in total for 2 huge woollen shawls for James and a nice woollen shawl/blanket for myself.

We saw quite a few foreigners around. I was wondering to myself, how do foreigners survive here since almost everything is in Mandarin. There are hardly any signs in English, maybe except for the toilets. Even I am struggling and I understand basic Mandarin. How do they order food and ask for directions? How to bargain? Hmmm…. not easy. I’m so glad that James speaks fluent Mandarin and my in laws are amazing. My father in law calls himself a local (because he is originally from China) when he needs to get a better price.

It’s our third day here and I’m starting to get a feel for the Chinese people. It’s always like that when we travel – first few days go by in a blur and after a while, then we start to observe and understand. I’m really glad we are travelling with my in laws and we eat at all the local restaurants and experiment with all the local dishes. I’d be so lost without them!

This pair of shoes caught my eye when we were shopping. Sophie chose the colour. A girl after my own heart….