Lezane's Ticking

Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Kyla's Ticking

Lilypie Third Birthday tickers

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Our Daily Routine

Lezane at Homeschool


Swimming time


Playground



Arts and Crafts (Kyla's favorite activity)


Myself and the kids have gotten into a regular daily timetable as below. It helps alot for me to have a schedule in place so that I could organise my activities and personal time better.
Our daily life goes like this:

7-7.30am: Cook lunch for Lezane (the ingredients are prepared the night before)

7.30-8.30am: The kids get awakened and have their morning milk feed and prepare for school

8.30-9am: Waiting for taxi to fetch Kyla to school

9-10am: Supermarketing with Lezane or take a little walk around the neighbourhood if the weather is good (but the weather is getting a little unbearable)

10-11.30am: Homeschool for Lezane

11.30am-12.30pm: Lunch and shower

12.30-1.30pm: Playtime for Lezane

1.30-4pm: Naptime and Cooking for Dinner/Me-Time/Laundry/Cleaning the house/Baking

4pm-5pm: Kyla and Lezane's independent play (if they can)

5-6pm: Dinner

6-7pm: Mandarin/English/Math for Kyla & Lezane (sometimes we go swimming or playground)

7-8.30pm: Waiting for Daddy and watching DVD/play again

8.30-9.30pm: Getting ready for bed and good night

Nothing very exciting but it keeps my sanity in place. When Weikai is around, this schedule doesn't follow anymore. Is all play for Daddy and the kids.

Monday, May 17, 2010

A Month of Domesticated Life


Time flies....It has been a month plus since I have arrived in Beijing. When I first came to Beijing in Mar/Apr, it was still winter and now the weather is turning warmer and more acceptable for both the kids and I.

Initially, the idea of being a housewife sounded very daunting to me. I am always wondering whether I will be able to manage my two super active kids on my own without any help and enjoy full-time motherhood. Well after a month of adjustment, I must say I am slowly getting accustomed to life in Beijing and enjoying the 24/7 moments with my children (thou I must say at times, they can really get me on my nerves and causing me to lose my temper). I am also managing pretty well with cooking and housework too.

But there are some things that I do not fancy much about Beijing. I dislike people spitting in public. It is really gross and Lezane loves rolling on the floor when he gets upset (can you imagine how exasperated i can get when he does that). Everywhere is dried up sputum. Yucks. Public toilets are without doors and full of shit. There was once Kyla said.." eee.. so dirty... mummy i cannot shee shee... so smelly". She really held her pee till we could find a decent toilet.
No aircons in taxi (gosh, can you imagine how warm it gets when the sun is glaring at you) and very little airconditioning in cinemas (when you pay for SGD$10++ for a movie).

The positive part of this relocation, we can get to visit different places of interest every weekend and that happens on my favorite days of the week, Thurs and Sats (when Weikai is home and 'no-cook' days for me). On these days, we will venture out to do some sight seeing and try out the many yummy food in Beijing.

In summary, this one month plus had been eventful and enjoyable. Hope it will contd to be fun for me, for Kyla, for Lezane and for Weikai.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

A Walk With History

Tiananmen Square
鼓楼

钟楼


Teabreak at a rooftop coffee outlet




The Hutong


Forbidden City


Last Saturday, we took the opportunity to do some sight-seeing while Weikai's parents are here. It was a beautiful day with sun and wind. We triapse into the Forbidden City, Gu Lou and the Hutongs.

Before we entered the Forbidden City, we thought we could travel back history to enjoy the grandeur and vastness of the place. However, we were a little disappointed. Many of the palaces could only be viewed from afar (ie. we could only see the architecture and the exterior designs of the palaces). After a while, all the palaces all looked the same.

On the other hand, the Hutongs provided a very different facade of Beijing. We visited the busy 700m long 南锣鼓巷。I loved the 古色古乡feel of the street. The street was littered with many interesting shops from crepes to local designer products shops to local pubs and yogurt shop. It was very enjoyable window shopping at the street with Weikai. It was like back to the dating days. But well no more of such days anymore - everywhere, everyday, anywhere, we have our kids in tow (different kind of bliss).

The next sightseeing trip will be to 前门on our 'first dating' anniversary day, 15 May (gosh it has been a good 12 yrs with Mr Tay). Will update again...

Thursdays are Baking Days
















Sunday, May 9, 2010

Mother's Day


Mother's Day celebration was kept simple in Beijing. Kyla made cards for all the mothers of Tay and Heng Family. We also had an early celebration at 花家怡园 for Weikai's mum. We made a sponge cake (meant for mother's day), which was a total flop as I had accidentally dropped some yolks into the white and I knew the cake was doomed for failure. Nevertheless, the kids had lots of fun decorating the cake, blowing candles and creaming each other faces.

On the actual day, we left the kids behind and went singing with Weikai's colleagues. KTV in Beijing is really wow. The moment I stepped foot into the KTV, I thought I was in a 5-star hotel. That is how suaku I am. The system is hi-tech and service was great. They even had a high chair for the lead singer to sit on with maracas and shakers. It was an enjoyable night with Weikai's colleagues singing like professionals. Really put me to shame when I sang with them. Overall, we had a great night.