Trip to Germany

As you know I am often quite behind on my blog especially this year. I think having 3 kids under 5 takes away so much of my free time. And whenever I get close to being up to date some busy events come up such as visitors and family holidays.

We weren't sure until 2 days before we left to Germany that our trip was going to happen. But it did! We had such an amazing time with the Brunke family. I have so many wonderful photos to share and things to blog about - this might take a while but watch this space! I will get there eventually.

Our flights over there were great. We took a morning Emirates flight into Dubai then to Munich. Total 13 hours of flight. It was our first time to fly Emirates. We were very impressed. The flight attendants were so good with the kids. Meals were very good and endless entertainment was available on a big personal screen. It felt too smooth and easy. Until Ashley threw up so much on Matthew when coming into Dubai The plane was turning around so much she got sick :( Luckily we were out of the plane only 10min after that happened (imagine being stuck with dirty clothes for any longer...)

Just give you a closer look at Germany, we were way down at the bottom, very close to Austria. No snow yet but freezing cold for a tropical family!

(map borrowed from http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/germany.html)

Day 1 Walk in the forest

The next morning we were treated with a true German breakfast. Delicious white sausages and brezels!

Oliver and Helen were a little bit shy to begin with but they were very happy to be reunited!

While Helen was at school we took a stroll in the Gruffalo forest (Oliver and Luca named it). The air was nice and crisp for us. I found it very refreshing and seeing all these colourful leaves was very nice.

They live in such an amazing location. 20min train ride away from the central city, 2 min walk to the forest and a huge empty field.

We totally enjoyed the walk. What a great way to start our holiday! 

17 hours journey

After almost 17 hours we got to Germany. It actually wasn't bad at all. The timing of the flights were perfect for us. We left Singapore at 9:30 am with very excited cheerful kids. We had lots of options getting to Germany - this time we took Emirates flights. The kids were overwhelmed by the amount of entertainment on board and the cabin service was excellent! We then had 3 hours in Dubai which gave us time to stretch our legs and have some food before the night flight (it was already bedtime in Singapore). All the kids had some sleep on the second flight which was excellent. We finally arrived in Munich at 19:30 local time which was actually 2:30am for us - Yes a very very long day.

The Brunke family welcomed us at the airport. They picked us up in two cars and brought us to their house. After feeding the kids and putting them to bed, us adults had a great time catching up. Hans made his signature Black Forest cake to go with some champagne to celebrate Matthew's recent upgrade. How nice of them!

Meeting Maori All Blacks

We had been looking forward to going to a rugby match Maori All Blacks vs Asia Pacific Dragons (a SE Asian/Pacific Island invitational team) at the new stadium on the 15th Nov but due to the poor condition of the field, they have canceled the match. Boo Boo BOOOOO!

All of us Kiwis were so disappointed by this news (everyone made sure to get the day off work etc and was going to be a super big weekend...).
However, the Maori All Blacks have kept their visit to Singapore and put in a practice session with the Asia Pacific Dragons and even a practice with the little rugby players here in Singapore. We got an email from Oliver's Tampines Dragons Team regarding their surprise visit. In the email the hands on practice session was only for kids older than 9 years old and the little ones can come and see them practice and after the session we could take photos or get autographs.

I managed to drop Ashley with Kei and just took Oliver and Luca myself (it was very unfortunate Matthew was away on his Osaka trip, he would have loved to meet them).

When we got there we were told to sit with each age group. Then they told us even the very little ones can be on the field and join the practice session!!!! How amazing!

The professionals were separated into 5 groups and each age group had a 10min practice session with each group. So you got to meet all the players in one hour!

Oliver was the smallest by far but he got the most support from all the players. They were so nice to all the kids and especially with Oliver.

Oliver catching a pass from a Maori All Black!

 

At the end of the practice the kids were overwhelmed and very tired. We still managed to get some autographs and pictures with some of the players! How cool is that! Somehow I couldn't get my camera to focus properly dah :( I am so annoyed with this :( :( :(  At least we have loads of photos to show Oliver as he grows into a rugby player, he met the Maori All Blacks and he practiced with them. 

I was so so excited meeting Tana Umanga an ex All Black Captain who had been a hero while I spent my time in NZ. It was so cool!! He is the coach for the Asia Pacific Dragons. 

There were a lot of kids there - All had an amazing time with the Maori All Blacks! Can you spot Oliver?

It was very hard to follow Oliver's practice and entertain this little one at the same time.  All the Maori All Blacks made a special comment on his wonderful puipui!! Thanks Kylie!

Playdate and Sleepover

Luca had an extra exciting day today (to him everything is exciting everyday really but today was very special). Two of his best friends from nursery class came for a playdate - Lucas and Rafi!

They were so good together and enjoyed play-doh.

Lucas only stayed an hour and a half but Luca got to keep Rafi until late that afternoon.

Then the long playdate turned into a sleepover. He was ecstatic!! Every time Oliver's friend TJ comes for a sleepover Luca was nagging me to organise one for him with Rafi. Finally the day came!!

They watched a movie with popcorn:

And slept together until the morning. No problems at all!

He is looking forward to having many more sleepovers :)

Daddy the Coach

Oliver was so excited coming home from rugby practice today. Matthew got given a coach uniform for the Tampines Dragon team! (even though he can only help when he is available).

I hope he gets lots of Saturday afternoons off from now on.

Takoyaki night

Another relaxing dinner night with Kei and her family last night. Kei's husband often works late and isn't home for dinner (yes, very much the Japanese way!) and I find myself eating alone with the kids when Matthew is flying. So it is very nice to have such a good friend just a few floors down from us (like having you and the kids over the fence in Brunei Boel!).

Tonight we made Takoyaki which is a popular dish from Osaka. It is cooked in a special takoyaki pan. I used to do them on the gas grill in the kitchen but I recently bought a table gas cooker which made it so much easier and much more fun!

It is made from a wheat flour based batter and filled with cubed octopus (tako - hence the name of the dish), some tempura scraps, pickled ginger and spring onion. Today we also made some with tomatoes and cheese cubes. Basically you can put anything you want in it.

I think Luca and Ayaka enjoyed it the most, especially the cooking part of it.

Mmmmm Yum!