Nomads for now...a mum forever

Here's looking at you, dude!

Kai spent 1 year in Henry Park and when he was in P2, he only stayed for the first term and we were relocated to USA for a year. At US, he was in grade 2 for 2 months and then went up to grade 3 and he didn't finish grade 3, we went back to Singapore and he went back to Henry Park P3 for 4 months, we were then relocated to Shanghai. In Shanghai, he went up to P4.

That is to say, Kai did not finish his P2 and P3. While in Singapore, we got a Maths tutor to give him a "crash course" on his P3 Maths as we know that will be a killer when he goes to the Singapore Shanghai International School.

Sometimes, I think and feel sad that Kai has to do all these ding dong-ing from country to country...I wonder if it is really fair for him. While he is here, so many times, he cried over his Maths and Chinese because they only offer higher Chinese over here and Kai is already so bad in his Chinese. Now, he has to handle higher Chinese, that really will is a killer. Sometimes, I also feel the stress from his studies cos' I am helpless especially when comes to his P4 Maths...so many times, I just blew it.

Finally, the mid-year exams are over and Kai (warning...bragging) tops his class in Science and English and Maths, he scored 80 and higher Chinese, he passed with a 52!

I was really touched.... all these nomadic life did not affect him, in fact, he went against all odds to give his best performance.

Kai chose the Singapore Shanghai International School although he was given the choice to choose other international schools. He could have have gone the easier way but he chose the more rigorous one.

I really hope this fighting spirit will stay with him for the rest of his life because he is going to need it so much when he steps into the working world.

Home...for mummy's homecooked meals

One mother wrote this in one of the mama's forum...

classmate 1 :"Why are u in hurry? Hungry?"
son replied:" Oh, my mummy cooking claypot rice, my favourite. I am very hungry now."
classmate 1: "So good!"
son: "My mummy cookings very nice. I love my mummy cookings. She always cook our favourite food."
classmate 1: " My mummy don't cook. Only auntie ( the maid) cooks."
classmate 2: " My mummy worst. Don't know how to cook. Only packet home for us!"
son: " Everyday I want to go home fast. Everyday I want to eat mummy food. Your mummies so lazy ....."

It was a very innocent but sweet conversation among three small kids but I felt it spoke volumes of what our kids really want from us....

NOT...
the latest Playstation
the latest DS
the latest XBox 360
the furthest, most expensive holiday
the best condo to live, the best car to sit in....
(of course, if mummy and daddy could afford all these, they will be happy too)

It is really very simple - time, love, fun and a good homecooked meal!

Talking about homecooked meals, I realised I haven't posted pictures of my culinary works for quite a while. This is because of the longer nights and shorter days. By the time I finished cooking, the sun was gone and with no natural light, the pictures would turn out awful.While there is sunlight today, here is what we will be having for dinner tonight...

Baked chicken!A recipe shared by a fellow mama. What I love about it is that it is not messy, not oily...just delicious and healthy cos' it is baked not fried! Yum-mo!

It's all about...BELIEVE again

DH and I sat at the dinning table, having our breakfast last Sunday, talking about our nomadic life. We looked at our life in the States and missed our friends there and all the fresh air, great food we have had. It has been almost half a year in Shanghai and we are still struggling to settle in. Here is a land of many opportunities, if one can survive the tough living conditions, there are indeed plenty one can do.I told dh I wonder how long I can hang on, how long will it take before I lose all my sanity...the cold winter, Kai's examinations...all these only make it more stressful.We ended off our talk with no solutions and got the kids ready for our Sunday service. That's the thing, even when life is down and out, go to church!

God sure has his way of helping us deal with life's challenges. The speaker for that day was none other than one from our homeland, Singapore. Some of you may know him, Pastor Lawrence Seow. Once a great pastor, now a great evangelist.His message was something we have all heard before...

The feeding of the five thousands. A familiar story about how God used five loaves of bread to feed the mulitudes. The really amazing thing was that he shared on something which we didn't realise before and have never heard before. Mark 8:19 to 20

When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?"
"Twelve," they replied.
And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?
They answered, "Seven."

If we were to plot a graph base on the facts given above, it will look something like this...

If God used seven loaves of bread to feed 4,000 and five loaves of bread to feed 5,000, base on the graph, one loaf of bread, God could have fed 6,000 people. That says something about Him...

He uses small resources to accomplish big things!

Looking at another famous Bible story - David and Goliath.

Who defeated Goliath? Not the Philistines with their armour and weapons but little, wee David with his stones and sling shot.

The Philistines saw Goliath and said "he is so big, we can't defeat him!"
David came and saw Goliath and said, "he is so big, I won't miss him!"

And yes, David did not miss him, he struck him right in the middle of his forehead. It was David and his little resources that defeated the giant.Who we have is more important than what we have. As long as we have our loved ones with us, our families with us and God with us, all life's challenges will come to nothing.

When the family moved to the US, we moved with lots of fears and worries as we moved with no prior relocation experience. We moved together as a family, believing God will handle everything and provide everything and indeed He had, blessing the family with wonderful experiences and people coming our way.

Looking back, we told ourselves that with the US experience, we could handle Shanghai much better, trying to work things out ourselves...in actual fact, what God really wants is to give Him everything and He will work miracles in our lives.Once again, we are reminded that God is in control if only we allow Him. The giants will fall at our feet.

So, from now onwards, we will just BE here and LIVE!"

If you believe God exist and at the end of your journey, realise He actually doesn't exist, you have nothing to lose. If you don't believe God exist and at the end of the road, realise that He indeed exist, you have everything to lose."
Profound...but so true.

Looking back, giving thanks again....

Happy 16th Wedding Anniversary

Today, dh and I celebrate our 16th years of marriage...

Looking back, giving thanks

We often hear people saying, "don't look back", "let go of the past", "look forward", "let the past be past"....but I say, it is good to look back and give thanks for it is our past that shapes our future.

2009 has been a very trying time for the family. We moved from the States back to Singapore and from Singapore to Shanghai. It was changes, changes and more changes. I looked back and saw what I wrote in my blog..."Our life is such, a little of everything, put together, placed under the intense heat of trials and testings, we emerged a better person! If you ask me is 2009 going to be tough, I said 'yes', can we managed? I said 'Yes and YES!' "

And believe it, it has been one very tough year for all of us...BUT God has been good, very gracious indeed. His Grace has always been sufficient for us whatever that come our way. I know God will never take away the challenges, He will never take away difficulties and trials, that has never been His promise to us. His promise to us is that "My Grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor 12:9

One of the greatest challenges living in Shanghai is feeding my family. There are so many food scare that every food item I buy, I have learned to read the really small prints. I have learned to read the ingredients, I have learned to look out for the right labels but really, that is so much I can do. The rest I can only depend on God and trust Him to feed us the right food. I have learned not just to say my grace before meal times, I have also learned to pray when buying food items. Call me a paranoid...it's a mother thing, to feed her family only with the good and healthy stuff.

2009 also saw God being faithful to a friend who gave birth to a baby boy at her 26th week of pregnancy but every child of God is precious, the baby is now 3.1 kg and is home with his parents. God is also faithful as He blessed a very good friend of ours with a pair of twin girls. However, there were also friends who were facing tough times in their life and we continue to wonder why and we continue to pray and trust. We just received news that one pastor back home has just discovered he has lung cancer...such is the reality of life. Don't you think you ought to live life to the fullest, live your life as if it's your last day on earth.

2010 will continue to be a challenging time but God will also continue to be there for us. Bill Crowder said, "we find encouragement and power to persevere in life's darkest hours - power rooted in God, who is compassionate and merciful. Even when life is painful and hard, we can persevere because God is there, His mercy endures forever (Ps 136).

First visit to Mdm Tussauds museum

The Chinese does not have a Christmas break that means kids and adults are all in school and at work. We made use of the opportunity to visit the Shanghai Mdm Tassauds museum. It was fun, apart from the wax figures, there were also games to play. Most of all, the place was almost empty.

Just before entering...

So, that was how she looked?

Pretty ladies...

Let's be friends, Mr Gates

The future is ours

The first two I am sure you know who they are. The last one is the first Chinese sprinter to win an Olympics gold medal

Kung fu fighter or a basket ball player?

The old and the new

Will I be a musician....

will I be a gymnast?

The princess and the people

The princess and the prince

DH and I both agreed that this figure is most well made

With that, our Christmas break came to an end. A new year awaits us.

Around Osaka in six days!

Travelling from Shanghai to Japan takes only two hours. We decided to head there for our Christmas.

We arrived at Kansai airport just under two hours of flight. Japan is a beautiful place but one thing that is really trying is making use of their subway and train system. It is so complex and the station is all huge. Getting out from the wrong exit will laand you at the wrong place and that was exactly what happened to us. From the station to the hotel was only a seven minute walk but it ended up a one hour walk because we came out from the wrong exit...so after dinner, we went to bed.

Notice the special lamp post? And guess who followed us to Osaka...

In the heart of Osaka

Buying the real stuff...takoyaki from Japan!

Universal Studio, here we come...

That was Ann's first visit to a Universal Studio and yes, she had the time of her life. Actually, whether you are an adult or a child, theme parks, somehow, always lift up your spirits.

All the sight and sound of the Universal Studio

My love - The Peanuts Gang!

...and I thought I could have some peace...

Kobe, NOT an ancient city

One of the most enlightening moment was discovering that Kobe was actually a very modern place.

All along, in my mind, I have always thought that Kobe is an ancient city. I was expecting alot of old castles and houses but I was pleasantly surprised...

Kobe subway station

The Oriental Hotel, Kobe. Beautiful isn't it?

Can you spot someone?

Pokemon is a popular cartoon in Japan

This metal slide reminded me of those which I used slide down when I was younger...ions ago

In Japan, there are many ferries-wheel. We realised that almost in each city, there will be at least one of them

We also found the Peanuts gang at Kobe

This was like de-ja-vu, a see-through church building, something I saw in my dream

Streets of Kobe

The Kobe harbour

Kobe harbour at night

Night scene of Kobe

One of the taller Christmas trees I have ever seen. Awesome!

A Christmas carriage and a special escalator, it actually bumped you up and down.

Great service, blankets provided to keep us warm while we have our chocolate

Shinsaibashi Shopping Belt

This was really an interesting stretch at Osaka...

Interesting, never-ending streets of shops, restaurants and many, many more. We even found a Turkish ice-ream man

Do you remember the Glico man?

Japan has lots of game arcades. Not very healthy, I think

Eating ice-cream at Baskin Robins

Guess what we saw? WENDY'S!

Beautiful sculptures can be found on the streets of Osaka

Pokemon Center

Yes, Pokemon is popular in Japan. They even have a Pokemon center.

All kinds of Pokemon knick·knacks for adults and kids

Glorious food of Osaka

In case you thought I have completely forgotten all about the food in Osaka...no, I thought I should put them all under one heading...glorious food!

This was one of the best sugar-paste works I have ever come across. They are all edible

Takoyaki - a class of its own.

What were these people doing behind the curtains?...............................eating ramen

A little of everything, our Christmas Day lunch

Okonomiyaki aka Japanese pizza and of course, ramen

Something special, mochi, greenbean paste with ice-cream. Yummy!

Simple toast and chocolate milk breakfast but they were really great

Walking through a Japan market (in fact, any market) is something which dh and I always enjoy doing. When we were in the US, we always enjoyed going to the farmers' markets...

Fresh tuna and salmon

The famous Japanese puffer fish. No, we didn't try it

Octopus and oysters. They were really big

more seafood

Dessert of various kinds

The best place for sushi and sashimi. Of course, none other than Japan itself. We found this small sushi cafe and tasted one of the best and most reasonably priced sushi and sashimi...