Just the 4 of us!: 2008

Merry Christmas! :)

It was a very quiet Christmas this year for us. However, Naomi was still happy because "Santa" came over....

On the Christmas Eve, we prepared a glass of milk and a piece of cookie for Santa. Naomi put the cookie at the spot she wanted Santa to drop the presents. We did that about 8:30pm... and from then until before she slept, she kept checking out the cookie and the milk. Until I told her that Santa will only come when you are sleeping... haiyor. Then of course when the lil girl had gone to sleep, mummy will have to drink the milk and eat the cookie lar!

Then the next day when she woke up, she actually forgotten about the cookie and the milk until I reminded her today is Christmas, Santa should have come last night... Then only she quickly ran out to the living room and she was so happy to see presents! She actually screamed :" Santa finished my cookie and milk milk!" and "Thank you Santa for the presents!"

There were 3 presents, I told her Santa gave her 1, daddy and mummy gave her one each... I wonder if she will think how come all the wrapper were the same... muahahahahaha

Christmas, Yeah!....

I just went and dig my last year post... I just realized that I didn't blog about our Christmas last year!!!

This year will only be 3 of us here in a foreign country. I have been celebrating with my whole family on Christmas for the past 2 years, and frankly, I miss it a lot! It's good to have family nearby. It's good to feel taken care of. :) Well, Papa Sze does a very good job in taking care of me and Naomi too!

Last year Naomi was just started walking for a month, was still walking like a "drunken master". And she couldn't speak in sentence, only a few words. Couldn't sing out one whole song... Look at her now, so much different in just 1 year. She speaks fluently in well formed sentences. She sings lots and lots of nursery rhymes, English and Chinese, 1 hakka and 1 hokkien, a few cantonese children songs too! And she can run so fast that I sometimes I couldn't keep up (yeah, this mama needs exercise more...)

Last year we have loads of presents from uncle Ray and Aunty Nicole and other relatives... this year, sorry lor Naomi. Only 2 ,ok?

And last year she still have very curly hair.... now it has become so much straighter!

I am Bored....

I couldn't cook.
I couldn't chat (or 8) on msn....
I couldn't watch drama....
I couldn't go kai kai....
because Naomi is so clingy.... sian...

Oh I miss my mum so much.....

Naomi at 25 months old...

Oh my Oh my... it's been long since my last update... It's not easy to juggle a few blogs... how do you wonderful mummies out there manage to do so???

Here's some update:

Poh poh has gone home to Malaysia today. Yesterday while she was packing, Naomi thought we are going back together. She got so excited that she went to pull out her clothes from the wardrobe and start packing too (like she knows lar!) Poor thing, I just have to be cruel and tell her the truth,

"Naomi, only poh poh is going back to KL. We stay in China, ok?"
"Nooooo mummy, I want to go too...we all go together"
"Baby, you have to stay here with mummy and daddy... poh poh needs to go back to see gong gong..."
"Noooo poh poh cannot go...I want poh poh...." then she started crying, hugging poh poh and keep asking poh poh not to leave....

I tell you, it broke both me and my mum's heart to see her cry like that... I seriously wanted to buy another tickets and we all go home together... but I was rational enough, luckily.

Anyhow... we sent poh poh off this morning. She was ok, but sad for a while I guess... I wrote it here in my shopaholic blog.

Naomi is 2 years and 1 month old (or 25 months old....) She's grown a lot and she is able to speak so well, I can basically sembang with her now... and she picked up some cantonese songs too, so cute! hehehehehe :)

Hong Kong trip Day 2.... Disneyland!

Our day 2 and last day were at Disneyland. Disneyland hotels are having promotion now, which you stay one night at the hotel, bought 1 day ticket and play for 2 days. It's quite worth it. Though Hong Kong Disneyland is pretty small, it should be done in just 1 day, but having a toddler who would need to nap in the afternoon and all the queuing for those character photography sessions... 2 days will spare us more time to play and more relax.

We purposely took a cab from Shatin to TsingYi MTR station, and we took MTR to Sunny Bay and changed to the Disneyland resort line in order for Naomi to experience the Disneyland train. She was very very excited to see the train with Mickey's head window!

As we entered the park, she saw Goofy and on my, she was so happy that she kept screaming for goofy like those little fans. Muahahahaha . When she saw Belle, oh my oh my, she really adored Belle. After that she told me "mummy, I want to be like Belle, I want a dress like hers...." See lar, she's only 2, ok?

Disneyland were having some Christmas Celebration with extra stage shows in front of the castle. And the Christmas Parade, I have to say it wasn't impressive. It was quite short and simple..... The fireworks at night was very short too! It wasn't great too... I remembered it shouldn't be this short.... Hmmm....

Naomi's favorite was Buzz Lightyear ride. I think we took about 5-6 rounds of Buzz Lighyear ride. And she knows her mission, is to shoot the naughty Zurg.... And we went for Golden Mickey and Lion King stage shows as well. At first I was pretty worried that she would be making a scene inside but to my surprise, she actually loved them. She was watching so quietly and so concentrating. I guess it's not long for our movie days! Hehehehe

Overall, it was a lot of fun, it's good enough for Naomi to really enjoy herself. However, both mummy and daddy were very very tired carrying her queuing up...

Isn't she a lady? Her Aunty Nicole said, she's a natural.

Disney train....

Castle...

Ok, this cheapo mum didn't buy this for her, only let her took picture. It's HKD90 and I don't think she will really want it after 5 mins.

She's angry at her daddy.... because she couldn't queue up quietly.

I asked her to put up a happy face, this was what she gave me.

She wasn't scared of any of this character, she actually ran towards them and hug them without me.

Her idol.....

Hong Kong trip Day 1....

Papa Sze needed to go Hong Kong to run some errands. Since it was on Thursday and Friday, we planned a trip to Hong Kong Disneyland as well.

We stayed in Royal Park Hotel at Shatin area as so Papa Sze could do his stuff at that area. I have to say it is a very nice hotel. The whole place was newly renovated as the hotel was chosen to be the official Olympic Village of the Equestrian Game. The room is very spacious that you hardly get this room size in town hotel, hahaha , yeah, Hong Kong hotel rooms are normally not too big. It is connected to New Town Plaza, a very big shopping place with lots of food choices. And some very good brands are here too, Next, Marks & Spencer, Zara etc... nice!

Papa Sze had to go out in the afternoon, so I took Naomi to Snoopy World in New Town Plaza. It is just a theme playground but good enough to keep Naomi occupied for hours.

After that we went to toys'r'us and spend another few hours at that place, so I don't have to buy her any toys, cheapo mum hahahahaha....

And that night, we met up with a very very long lost friend and her family. We had a wonderful dinner, you know who you are, thanks a lot!

And the next day, we adjourned to Disneyland Hong Kong, and that will be day 2's story....

Naomi's school day...

No no no, not the monday to friday, 9am-4pm school. It is just some activity classes.

Naomi has been very bored here in China as we couldn't move around and go out as and when we like. Taking public transportation is pretty tough to go out with a kiddo.

So this school is called RYB (红黄蓝亲子班), we enrolled Naomi in music class and sensory integration class. The place is very very clean and still quite new.

Naomi was the youngest in both classes. As the result, she couldn't really follow all the instructions but she blended in very well. The instructors did mention that we need to give her time to adapt and she was doing fine when it comes to change of environment. She was very brave to introduce herself with her very Malaysian chinese slang mixed with a bit of English. And I bet most of the class didn't understand what she said.....

Overall, it was a fantastic experience for us! But, mummy was very very tired after the classes because I was doing all the activities together....

No more spending..

As Huisia said.... it's time to save up.

Papa Sze has been telling me the company has to cut down all the costs, probably salary too. He is very stressed out, though he tries very hard not to show us. Salary cut will impact us a lot, as we are single income family, we have a lot of commitments! And without any backup, i cannot imagine if Papa Sze got retrenched (choi !). And I pray very very hard each night.

Now,
we can't go out dining more than twice a week.
we can't buy anything extra, no more toys for naomi, no more pretty outfit for her, no more fun dazzle/kidsport and gym (poor baby...)
we can't go out more than twice a week (to save on cab cost)
we can't buy too much of imported food(those are expensive!)

As a foreign worker, we were given a very cosy place to stay, everything is paid off. So, stay home more, will definitely save some money.

And internet, will be my closer friend.... books and DVDs, will be Naomi best friends too... :P

Thai food in China...

After a few months in China, we've tried out a few Thai restaurant and so far, this one is the best... it is called Yam Thai 鑫泰. Not too expensive, 3 adults and 1 child, the bill came up to be RMB300 with about 5 dishes. The ambience is very cosy too. We have been there for few times...

I have to say their food is pretty authentic, and quite delicious. Too bad they don't have the clear tom yum soup, it has to come with the coconut milk in it which I don't really fancy. It's too lemak. However, the taste is wonderful...

What I find the best is their claypot brinjal tang-hun.... It is very very tasty. :)

Naomi is 2!!!!

My girl officially stepping into the "terrific 2" phase.... :P

We have a wonderful dinner with a few of hubby colleagues and Hui Sia's family... Being too excited of Naomi's birthday, both mummy and daddy forgot to bring the camera.... :(

Naomi loves Jo and Eli's company so much. She keep asking to go Aunty Hui Sia's house everyday, pengsan. And thanks for all the lovely presents too! Naomi loves them so much.

My girl....

Says who that girl is supposed to be more quiet, less active and more obedient? Definitely not my girl....

Look at her stunts...

"Let me get my chair to the back of the sofa..."

"I am ready..."

"iiiiah..."

"iiiaahhh " somemore...

"Ta-da!"

Again!!!!!!

A lot of fun, heh? She could do this for a long long time... climbed over the sofa and slided down....

My vain pot....

Look at my little vain pot... after she put on everything, she stood up and screamed "Look mummy, I am soooo beeeautiful...."

Putting on my nail polish

Putting on my bracelet

Now, a good hair setting will be perfect...

Now, what else....

oh yeah, my very pretty rings...

Anniversary celebration....

2 days ago was our 3rd wedding anniversary.

This was our first time celebrating together on the date. Normally Papa Sze will be somewhere in another corner of the world.....

And we went to have Pizza Hut nearby... muahahaha ... no candle light dinner, no flower, no romantic music, but it was a fantastic dinner with Papa Sze and Naomi.

It's good to be together....

A family day out....

Finally, we didn't go to shopping mall. We went to "Window of the world" in ShenZhen. The weather at this time is very good for outdoor activities, it's not too hot, windy yet not cold.

More details on this place, please visit this page. It has very good description of this fantastic place. It has about 130 reproduction of world famous attraction. It is indeed pretty amazing.

Naomi didn't know all the places yet but she did enjoy the monorail ride and the train ride. We were supposed to go on the horse carriage but too bad Naomi fell asleep half way and when she woke up, the horses ride was over. You have to pay for all the rides and it counts by head. Not cheap.

It is a very nice outting and here are some of the pictures we took. :)