Returning to Singapore

Our great holiday in Japan came to an end way too fast. It truly was a wonderful break for me. Since we had Ashley I haven't had a proper me time. Having the boys at Japanese kindy all day and Ashley in a very good sleeping routine both mornings and afternoons gave me at least 4 hours free time each day. I didn't get much of what "I was planning to do" done but never mind I was on holiday! 

Matthew flew in to come and get us. We were planing to fly out on Saturday but he had an extra work day in Singapore so we left the following day (poor Matthew had to arrive and leave the same day...). Because Matthew only arrived in the morning of our departure day we took a KIX-Narita-Singapore route which gave us extra rest time at home before the long-long journey (it sure felt like forever...)  

We flew Jetstar between KIX and Narita which was less than an hour flight so easy-peasy. Things started to look a bit stressful when we got to the ANA check in counter at Narita. They told us our tickets are booked for tomorrow. Usually standby tickets are flexible and it shouldn't be a big deal but it took forever for them to fix the problem plus we had a trainee lady assigning us seats and she kept stuffing up :( So even we had over 2 hours for transit, we spent the entire time in front of the counter and had to rush to the gate. 

I know I shouldn't be complaining, we all got on and I had Matthew to help me. Plus we were on their brand new B787. They had digital black out window screens, so you don't need to move the window blind up and down - very fancy. And this was new to me, a window in the toilet with a great view!

For parents with little ones it is always a bonus to have a nice changing table and extra room in the toilet.  

The kids were entertained pretty well until it was time for sleep...

A gentleman who was sitting next to Matthew and Ashley kindly offered us his seat and moved elsewhere so that Ashley could have a seat to sleep too. It was so nice of him. But the person next to Luca on the other hand decided to keep the reading light on almost throughout the entire flight. With the new interior the reading light was so powerful and white and two rows of seats were lit - yes that meant our kids had so much trouble going to sleep. Matthew did ask the guy if he could kindly turn it off for a while so that our kids could fall asleep - NOP he said he CANNOT. We couldn't believe it. I thought Japanese people were quite polite but not in this case. I know you paid for your flight, so you can do whatever you wish to do in your seat but still...we were very very annoyed.

So that made our trip very tiring. By the time we arrived in Singapore at 1:00am the kids were awful. Plus the queue to get taxis was so super duper long, we had to go to a different terminal and yet we still had to queue up over 20min.

We were all so exhausted the next day. We kept the boys at home and had a quiet day. They were very thrilled to have all their favourite toys back and extremely happy to be in their own house :)

Apart from that I am going to fly back to Osaka alone to get my niece in early August, we haven't got any other trip planned for a while. August is almost booked out with lots of guests visiting from Japan. Let's see where we can go during the kids September break. Until then no stressful flights for us.

Yukari and Ninjya

We had a very relaxing afternoon with Yukari. We enjoyed some yummy cakes and had lots of laughs. The boys had a half day at kindy so they could show her their recent addiction - Ninjya play.

It was great to catch up! Thanks for visiting us. See you again - very soon.

Girls

I am glad Ashley has some older girl cousins to play with. They are all so keen to look after her which is just wonderful to see. 

The other day I found some matching outfits for Ashley and Yuzuki. Don't they look cute? 

Yuzuki is now at the perfect age, she is very keen to be with Ashley and I can trust her (she won't go off and do her own thing when I ask her to watch Ashley). She will be coming to Singapore for 3 weeks this summer. She has been working really hard to learn English :) She will be a great help!

Rua is also very keen on Ashley. I can already imagine they will get in all sorts of trouble together when they get bigger...

They spend lots of time on this deck together.

Since we got to Japan Ashley has developed even more, enjoying socialising, communicating etc. She has put on some extra weight (finally!) too. Doesn't she look cute with her chubby cheeks? I am so relieved she is no longer under the 99.99 percentile line.

We are already looking forward to going back there again :)

Ashley vs Dinosaur

Quick dinner trip

My aunty lives 30min train ride away. We used to visit her every weekend when we were kids. Now she she works in a nice Japanese restaurant near the train station. So mum and I decided to take all the kids on the train and have an early dinner. 

The boys really enjoyed the ride:

Only after 10min or so we were right into the countryside:

Luca was extremely hyper when we got there so I couldn't get any photos to show you. The kids enjoyed some sushi and mum and I had a very nice set meal each. We were home by 7:30, it was a really nice quick trip.

Garden center

Mum and I are so keen to get our garden going at the moment. Mum used to live in an apartment (for the last 40 years!) so even though she had some space to garden in the communal area she never had her own garden before. We have a big piece of land at the back of our house which I would like to be a nice garden one day.

This year the weather in June is very nice (usually lots of rain, and some parts of Japan have been having huge rainfall but not us) so we get to spend lots of time in our garden. Also having mum loving to look after the plants and flowers I can buy more and plant them and leave them for her. I know she will take good care of them.  

Today I went to a garden center which is only 10min walk from our house. When we first built our house I often went there to get plants. It was kind of nice to be able to do "everyday" things during this visit. Ashley and I had a great time together :)

Mum likes bright coloured flowers and I love herbs and greenish plants so putting them together it makes a very nice garden :) Here are my purchases for the day.

I also bought this NZ mint called Milkyway. Tiny minty leaves with some small white flowers.

We have planted some passionfruit trees and more roses. I also bought some tiles to make some patio areas which Matthew will somehow work on when he visits Japan for work. I am looking forward to coming back in a few months to see our garden developing even more! Such a wonderful hobby :) I LOVE IT!

Dentist visit

The boys had their teeth checked the other day. I took them to the dentist right after they had immunisations done so they were a bit scared...

Oliver went first. He couldn't smile properly - can you see?

The dentist is very casual, kid friendly and nice. After a thorough check he brushed Oliver's teeth and painted with fluoride.

Luca was more excited than scared after watching Oliver. 

The best part for them was the lucky dip at the end. Oliver got number 61 so it was a very small ball but Luca got number 3! One of the biggest prizes. How cool!

Of course I had to drag one very grumpy boy home... Why can't I get the same ball as Luca, I wanted a big one too. Sorry honey - lets try next time.

Come on Japan!

We have watched both of Japan's qualifying games. As you know we lost 2-1 to Cote d'lvoire and drew 0-0 with Greece. I really thought we could win the game again Greece :(

Whatever the results might be the kids are enjoying cheering for Japan! Oliver insisted on getting the replica uniform so I really hope we can wear them more than 3 times.

Japan has to win the next game against Colombia (which would pretty much be a miracle) plus Greece need to beat Cote d'lvoire somehow. Go Japan!

Fireflies

Every year my sister Mako takes the kids to see some fireflies in Wakayama with her friends. She asked me if Oliver would like to come along. I really wanted to go too but there was only one seat left in the car. So I send him alone. Oliver wasn't too keen as he didn't know what fireflies were to start with and also I told him he cannot take his bug basket/cage because they are there to see not to catch.

After a half day convincing him that this is a very cool activity to do he finally said he wanted to go. Mako sent me some live pictures - smartphones are just fantastic!

They knew there would be lots of cars so they left well ahead of time to secure a good park. Then they took the kids to play at a nearby school.

Then to a river - Oliver was very excited to tell me they made a dam using rocks.

Mako told me this year they saw the most number of fireflies. They must have picked the best day to view them. They came and landed on Oliver's arm and flew away a few times. They were surrounded by hundreds of them. Must be such a great experience - I will be there next year for sure!

(Photo borrowed from Google images)

To finish up an exciting evening they went to a public bath. By the time Oliver got home he was fast asleep in the car...  

Happy Fathers Day

Last Sunday was Father's Day in Japan.  My father doesn't smoke or drink anymore (!) so we tend to get him some clothes.  I went shopping with Mako to look for something special. We saw these Team Japan shirts. We got them straight away. He loves watching sports on TV. He watches golf, soccer, baseball, volleyball, cycling etc etc. He has been so excited about the World Cup so these were perfect gifts for him! He doesn't look too smily here but he was very happy :) I also got some new summer socks for him which he was very happy about.

I tried to get grandfather/grandson photo here but Oliver was in a foul mood, boooo :(
It doesn't matter if we lose in the World Cup, it is always nice to support your own country in the country colours! Go Samurai Blue!

Armadillo bugs - Dangomushi

Every afternoon the kids are spending time with their neighbours and their cousins, riding bikes, kicking soccer balls or hunting for bugs. I am not too keen for them to catch something and keep them in baskets but they seem to be releasing them after a while so it is ok I guess.

One of their favourite bugs is called dangomushi in Japanese. They are pretty much everywhere and easy to catch as if you touch them they curl up and become a little ball.

Luca especially is not scared of anything so he touches whatever he sees.

When I was a kid there were so many places I could go without worrying about cars and bikes but now there is too much traffic around our house and so few empty sections and fields they can go in. People used to be more generous so they let the kids play in their rice fields etc but not anymore...

I guess we are still lucky to be in the countryside. I hope it won't change too much.

FIFA World Cup 2014

The boys are excited to have a few countries they are supporting in the World Cup :) Unfortunately Japan is not a strong team so might not get through the qualifying. So it is nice to have some backup teams to cheer for!

I am glad the boys enjoy watching sports on TV. It is one of our favourite family activities. They won't be able to watch the games live as the time difference between Brazil and Japan is too big but I am sure there will be lots of replays.

Japanese school

If we live here when the kids are at primary school age, they will be going to the same school I went to for 6 years when I was little. It will be less than 10min walk from our house which will be very convenient.

The other day Yuzuki asked us if we could come and pick her up from school so that she can show off her cool cousins to her friends and teachers. Sure we can!

Hineno Primary School:

The boys enjoyed watching the rabbits before getting to her after school playroom.

It used to be where the kindergarten I went to was when I was very little (yeah, I was there 30 something years ago...) so the building was very very old and they decided it won't be strong enough if a big earthquake hits. So they have built a brand new after school activity center at the back of the school. I was very impressed. The building they built had three big rooms and lots of outside play area with a big deck. I liked it was facing the field and overlooking the mountains.

We had a sneak peak of kendo practice in the gym too.

Yuzuki showed the boys where to get some leaves for the rabbits. They enjoyed feeding them so much. 

Yuzuki will be thrilled if we ever end up sending the boys to the same school as her. We will see where we end up in a couple of years time :)