Extreme weather

Singapore has been so dry since we got back from Japan. It only rained once and everything is getting very brown. We are enjoying the very cool temperature in the mornings tho (I am not sure why it is so cool and so dry).

Japan is also experiencing extreme weather. There were some unusual snowstorms over the last two weeks with a crazy amount of snow in the areas in where the snow doesn't stay on the ground normally. In some areas it is getting quite chaotic. The road closures are causing lots of households to be isolated etc.

In South Osaka where I am from we rarely get snow, if it snows it won't stay on the ground. I can only remember playing in the snow once when we were kids, maybe I was 10 or so.

But these are the photos my family sent to me last week:

 

At our Japanese house:







I am so annoyed we are not there at the moment. NO I don't like the cold but having snow on the ground and playing with the kids would be so much fun. Oliver especially was very disappointed we didn't get any snow to play in while we were there. He can sort of understand the seasons, and different countries having different climates etc now.

Anyway I just remembered I haven't blogged about this snow park we went to in Japan so I am going to show you some of the photos here.

I researched how to get to ski fields, or somewhere cold enough to take the boys for snow play, but it was quite hard without a car and with a little baby. So in the end we took the boys to this place my friend told me about. It was not all natural but at least the boys got to play in the snow!

We took trains to central Osaka. I think the whole journey took just over 2 hours. Hirakata Park is an old amusement park but I have never been there before. We bought some twilight tickets (entering the park after 3pm) hoping we wouldn't be frozen by the time the sun goes down.

They brought so much snow from somewhere... and made a play area and sleigh and tube ride areas.
The boys just had a ball!



And you can tell the parents had a great time too:





 

     



Luca the snow bee:



    





We explored the rest of the park after they closed the snow play area. We treated the kids with some rides.

 

 



Once the sun went down completely it got even colder. We were worried about Ashley but she was just happy as - giggling away :)



Before we left we went through some light displays - very pretty!





Japan is expecting some more snow this weekend. I really hope we can catch the real snow next time we visit.

Social spot

I am making more effort to take the kids to the pool in the evening so that we can catch up with our friends and the kids can play with their friends.

The weather has been fantastic for this. No rain and warm water :)

I even go down when Matthew is working now, I know someone will give me a hand. 

The other day the boys were drinking in the pool for Matthew who was in freezing Osaka!

When I was chatting to Nicola we saw this amazing sunset? rainbow? It didn't really capture the real light we were seeing through our sunnies but pretty cool ha!?

 

It puts our dinner time slightly later but it doesn't matter much, the kids are exhausted and sleep so well! 

Isabel's visit

Isabel was here over the weekend. She arrived on Thursday night just in time for some supper and a glass of wine. I have been lucky to get to see her every now and then even after I left Brunei. This time she was here to attend some self enrichment courses. So she was busy most of the time but we still managed to do lots of catching up.

On Friday we started off in IKEA (who would have guessed ha!?) then to Parkway Parade to do more shopping.

Matthew looked after all the kids after IKEA so we got to spend some quality girls time together. Isabel had very a specific shopping list so it was a matter of going from one shop to another. We managed to shop till 7pm! We were so focused we didn't really sit down for coffee or anything.

Unfortunately Ashley was teething big time and needed lots of attention and care so we couldn't enjoy our evenings as much as we hoped to :( 

The time flys by when you are having fun. Her stay was too short and now she is back in Brunei. At least we already have another catch up planned next month! 

Three little ones

All playing nicely:

and smiling :) :) :) You guys make my day!

9 months

So it has already been 9 months since we had Ashley. She has been just wonderful - she has given us so much, we really enjoy having her.

The boys have been great brothers to her too. Oliver especially is always gentle and caring to her. Luca, well... he is still learning that she is not a doll.

She has developed a lot in the last couple of months. She makes sounds more than just noise, she says "kon kon kon" when she is hitting an object (Japanese way of saying bang bang bang). She can move around, not yet 100% crawling but very comfortable on her tummy.

 

She is eating solids 3 times a day and now we found a drinking bottle she likes so she can drink formula or water whenever she needs. It has been a challenge for us to hydrate her. She just wouldn't drink much from a bottle. I have wasted more than a few dollars on buying new bottles she never liked...

She loves playing around the boys and is very good at entertaining herself.

 

And on this milestone day, another tooth has come through and I think the one next to it is not far off.



She is definitely heavier than last month and seems longer! (Thanks Aunty Brenda) She was playing a game and pulling her legs up each time I held the camera so I had to get a little assistant to hold her legs down.



I just hope she will sleep through the night soon. It has been a very sleepless 9 months for me...

Tall enough!

Yeeeessss we have been waiting for this day - Luca is tall enough to go into Smaland!

Oliver was also very happy Luca could come with him.



And the place was pretty much empty. Lucky we can always avoid the weekend crowds:

While the boys were well entertained, Matthew and I with a sleeping baby in the buggy had a very successful shopping excursion. 

We ate, looked around and bought a bunk bed and mattresses for the boys all in one hour.

We now have our big van taxi driver who gives us a hand loading/unloading the stuff we buy from IKEA. We book him in advance and he is there by the time we finish shopping.

It is not as bad as you males think! 

This is what you need to know

About Chinese New Year.

The fear of missing a child

Before we had a great night down at the BBQ pit we had a little incident. Luca went missing...
We were sure he was following us on his little bike until we got to the swimming pool. We saw some of our friends having drinks by the pool so we chatted to them for a little while then headed to the other side to the BBQ pit.

When we got there we noticed the boys weren't with us and I could see Oliver was playing with his usual friends in the condo. We thought Luca was with him but couldn't see him and started to get worried. Oliver told me he went the school way. I shouldn't really trust a 4 year old but I didn't know where to start. So I went all the way to the gate we use to get to kindy but I couldn't find him.

Matthew went through the food court and toilets to the far playground. I was started to worry as there are lots of ditches, car parks and canals/drains in Bayshore Park.

We were so lucky to receive a call from our friend Nicola who happened to be at the Bayshore Park supermarket and saw Luca inside the supermarket.

We found out he was riding his bike by himself in front of the supermarket for a long while. As the shop assistants found out he wasn't with any adults they decided to keep him in the shop so that he wouldn't go on the road. So instead he rode up and down the aisles talking to people.

We were lucky Nicola was in the supermarket, otherwise we would be looking for him everywhere in the condo except for inside the supermarket. It would be the last place I would have looked.

It was a very scary 20min. I must make sure he is right behind me or in front of me from now on. He is just too fast and adventurous.

CNY BBQ

We were invited to double BBQs last night - Japanese family friends and pilot friends gatherings downstairs. It was good for Matthew to be off as he often misses out on the fun whenever a BBQ is on. Well... until half way through the night he got a phone call from work to fly 4 sectors starting at 4:45am the next morning :( So not much drinking for him but we still managed to catch up with lots of friends.



There was so much food, especially meat! There were chicken wings, pork belly, juicy steaks, South African sausages and more!

  

The boys had a ball playing hide and seek, kicking balls, riding bikes etc until very late. We were hoping our little miss Rose will go to sleep at some stage but we had no chance. You can see from her cheeky smile!



Photo time!



To finish up a wonderful night we were treated with some BBQ camembert and this yummy and quite alcoholic pineapple and banana flambe. This was my first time to have cooked dessert at a BBQ.



We got home with three very tired children around 10:30. Another wonderful night at Bayshore Park.