Mish Mash

The rand as some of you may know had hit a low of US$1 = Rand 11.80, which luckily for us coincided with the latest inflow of payment so we got lots of rand. I have been looking at a variety of things to spend this money on... the Mac book? Hastens bed? definitely new couches, tho I am not sure i have the guts to go for the fabrics I have seen to date... also I would like to know what kind of house we move into in singapore. On a side note, I did see a few of the nice black and whites available for rent, then the designs I have been looking at may be "out of place"?

Anyway, while looking I also saw a nicer modern grey leather couch but I suspect I could be growing mushrooms on that in singapore. These two giraffes were going for a song... solid wood and like US$ 200. I saw one that had been mosaic-ed and it was very nice, am almost tempted to mosaic a giraffe, marcia what say you? Anat really wanted a mosaic giraffe, will have to email her this picture, which leads us then on to the subject of Israel...

Loren is there now... I had to cancel as it coincided with Nate's Senior Play which he is soooo excited about, he is counting down the days. He plays a ghost, or maybe I think its the ghost of christmas past. Apparently he will be dressed in a skeleton suit and he has already called it "very cool".

and ike? well the therapist for his thumb says its healing nicely, soon it can go without a bandage but it so bumpy a spot, I wonder if I should loosely bandage it since if he gets dirt on it, I am not sure how to clean that area. He has a really mild case of chicken pox. When we saw the dr, it had already scabbed up, that night fallen off... a total of 2 scabs. His nose also cleared up and he never got the high fever that he is supposed to get. He is so active I don't think he should be categorised as sick. He's also been fighting naps at home and today was a grouch ball so he was in bed at 5:30. The birds wake him up at 5 in the morning.

I some how remember this from last year, it gets bright early, the kids wake up early and go to bed earlier as well... even nate passed out at 6:30 today. Well me too for a short nap. I stopped Nate's antihistamine a week ago to see the effects well... a week later its really clogged. Last night he kept waking up and moaning cos he could not breathe. Antihistamines vs. taking out those andenoids... hmmm. Lets see what steamy singapore brings.

Here's a jewish bullet.... and loren in israel eating the worlds best hummus and with Amir. Tomorrow he heads to south of israel to see more family.

Halloween is here again...

So Kaidi so kindly let us abuse her house tomorrow, with kids and adults. There will be the kiddy stuff and the adult cocktails.

I started by making jello shots with one of my two bottles of precious mulberry enzymes that were in brew... they were brewing for summer drinks, popsicle base and salad dressing for loren's salads. Unfortunately the jello didn't gel up quite well. So plan B was to make the official summer olympic drink which includes ginger liquer, lichi liquer (which the store only had 1 bottle left), sake and grapefruit. It didn't taste as yummy as the description on the internet, so I added lemon juice, not bad but not Ka-pow.

So Mabo baked a cheese cake, similar to the one nate did for his bakerman some time back, instead of the pears as mice, we made them look like ghosts.

A line of locally brewed alcohol bottles that will take off your eyebrows. The marketing of the bottles are quite interesting. Barbed wire, "mothers milk"???...

Yellow

Ike's favourite color seems to be yellow for now. What color is dada's eyes? what color is your hair? what color is bullet? all elicit the answer... yellow. Hmmm. Even the ice cream he chose yesterday is yellow!

I may need to start counting how many words he speaks, at his age group its between 50 and 500, he seems to be like at 35 words! Though i am very happy that the two boys did very well with the Chinese jie jie today. Nate surprised us with many chinese words (though not sentences) and Ike even attempted to copy a few words with her, tho with me he says "no no no". So I think with the chinese environment in their school next year we are going to see their bilingual skills emerge. Nate seems really interested in asking about words in mandarin now.

Today it was fun day at Dainfern. They had huge water slides this year, we ended up spending most time at the sand pit tho and Nate made friends with another chinese boy. He seems to be quite the friend maker. A few weeks ago he was not so good at the monkey bars but today he could attempt 4 bars by himself.

Here are the dogs in a rare "cuddle" together. We send them downstairs to sleep for some time now, they get to hang out a bit upstairs, today we discovered, Jake has been quite crafty, he quickly hides behind the computer and while we all think he's gone down, he gets to sleep upstairs. We also have found out that Singapore Airlines will not ship Jack Russell Terriers (ie Jake) as they have had many bad experiences of them escaping and causing havoc. Even if we put Jake in a plastic cage. A blanket ban on JRTs! aiya!

Halloween 2008

Am really slack this year, we are the last in the neighbourhood to put up the decos, oh maybe Kaidi is the last. I think I'll just buy sweets this year, not sure if I have the time to do ghastly foods again.

Bao bao

So... I had broken Ike's habit of wanting to be carried but at the hospital I gave in and for the days after that as well, he now knows that his tantrums "work". Today, mabo asked me what bao bao meant!

Here's a shot of the poor innocent kid before his surgery and his thumb yesterday at the therapist, we have to get him to do some thumb exercises. At night I now let him sleep without the big bandage to air the thumb a bit, he still has the "thumb cotton condom" on. It looks ugly but apparently is healing well.

So much for a shot of my new bob!

Growing your own veges

Did you know that having a plot of land or box the size of 2m x 2m to grow vege's is enough to sustain a family of 4 for the whole year? well actually that means I need to get a bit more organised with my two boxes!

I am quite pleased I am now getting a very nice crop of salad greens, my first pepper is coming along, the first tomatoes should be here soon and I am harvesting a nice handful of cherry radishes everyday now. Got loads of parsley, lemon grass, and chillies! Am happy I can take my worm farming on back to Singapore, of which I already have made contact with the largest commercial worm farmer there.

Here is Essi, my third convert who has got a box, we got like 14 bags of compost, manure and potting soil for the box. Some seedlings like carrot, tomatoes and leafy greens and we planted seeds of the radishes, swiss chard, basil... the boys... they just wanted to play with all the dolls!

Back to the rat race...

Thanks for all the emails from all who know our decision and the suggestions etc... Sorry I have not been able to answer all emails... for those on facebook know that we are headed for Steaming Swingapore. YAY!

I feel like the decision was quite hard to arrive at because all our choices involved some sacrifice somewhere. Well we won't be spending on snow suits yet! So now that I am lifted from the where to go haze, I can move forward on the planning for the move... the last few days, I have been trying to figure out which preschool to send the boys to.

My first choice, along with everyone else who wants their kids to be fluent in Mandarin is Nanyang Preschool has about a 300 kid waiting list. The remaining choices are 50% english and 50% mandarin, which may not be that bad since I remember how I hated school when it was 100% immersion and I could not make friends (maybe this is the cause of my introverted nature?).

But what we do know is our ship out date is likely 24 Jan, we will park ourselves in KL for Chinese New Year for maybe 3 to 4 weeks till our container reaches singapore. The dog movers have told me that Singapore Airlines refuses to take Jack Russell Terriers, poor Jake, as they have had many bad experiences of dogs digging out of their wooden cage and running off! Also will try and look for a Chinese helper but for singapore its not a "source country" so they put up hurdles, will try anyway. New rules state that they have to take an english test and a safety awareness test.

Today at the park, we had quite a "unhappy situation". There was a little (I think) Chinese boy, his dad and him spoke a different dialect. The dad stayed in his car to "watch" his kid, the kid had a cast on one arm and is younger than Nate but older than Ike. Nate and him were playing nicely and climbing all over the jungle gym. That kid must have been accident prone cos at one point he falls from the jungle gym and bumps his chin hard. Starts crying but tries to hold it in, he wanted to run to his dad but then stopped, I tried to comfort him and then his dad runs out... starts shouting at the the poor kid, things like do you want to break your other arm, what are you so useless and then a bunch of stuff I didn't understand and then the dad wanted to go home.

The kid was so angry and hurt he started throwing sand at his dad and then his dad started cursing at him (this I understood!), incredible to a 3 year old?! then he stormed off to his car, threatening to leave if his kid doesn't get in... all very dramatic as the kid resists and doesn't want to close the car door, we can hear the dad cursing all the way as his windows were down. It was just so sad for the little boy.

Even Nate felt sad for him and wanted to understand why the father was so rude. I should have taken his car registration to report to Child Services. Was too shocked at the whole scene. And I guess history will repeat itself in the next generation? oh and the little boy looked alot like the boys cousin, Han.

Fin (brr brr brr) land or Swing-a-pore...

weather wise its like, would you like to live next to Santa (who hails from Lapland, a northern state in Finland) or live in a perpetual Sauna (which is invented by the Fins!) in swinging Swingapore? which is a hot hot place.

Yes it is that time of the assignment when the next assignment is in view... decisions to be made and pros, cons and compromises, what shall we do next? last week we made a quick trip up to Helsinki... can't announce any decision yet as a final one hasn't been made but here is what happened on the trip...

We get to finland, its rainy and cloudy and cold, was told to pack for 8 to 15 degree weather, forgot about "wind", brrr. We went to a really good restaurant called Farouge and our jeans were damp, the food was good the bill was well.... not of SA prices, we need to get used to higher prices again! (wherever the locateion). The mall we visited, called "Forum", is an old and tired mall. It rained and rained and rained.

The next day, we see a pre-school, here is the only image I took of the trip, other times it was too cold to take my hands out of my pocket! Every kid wears boots! Boots of all assortments! The school is small in comparison to Broadacres, have some interesting discussions with his teacher back here on what type would suit Nate's personality better. The international school was closed for a holiday.

We then see another mall, called the Apple, ah a newer mall, very nice, I drop in the kiddy clothes section and discuss all sorts of permutations of how to dress a kid in Autumn and winter. I was like an alien visiting earth with no clue on what these northern hemisphere earthlings wear. Goretex is the key, so are rubber suits (layer number 4) over a long underwear (layer number 1 - have been advised on buying cotton, silk and even wool), sweat pants (layer 2), warmer jacket (layer 3). Types of socks, mittens hats, some type of cream against the cold!

We then see 3 houses, well these guys really love their sauna's, it might as well be the living room as it is the biggest room in the house. There are two showers attached... then in the bedroom floor there can be 3 bedrooms to share one tiny bathroom!

Apart from that observation, one can live by the seaside or in the "woods". Autumn sure looked alot like new england.

By 3pm I was yawning, very typical cold weather, tropical girl losing body heat fast and I was constantly hungry. Dinner we were at Kosmos, a Finnish restaurant with a Malaysian, HK couple, ah Malaysian food will not be a problem!! already there are nasi lemak parties in full swing. Their kids are teenagers and they love the safety, the do-it yourself independant attitude and the "egalitarian" ness of the society, not the constant consumerism and comparison of Asia (they lived in Singapore and Beijing). Their kids cook, clean up, get to school by themselves...

Also once you pay taxes, one can get access to the Chinese teachers on the I guess Finnish socialist principal of "maintaining ones home culture".

Cars were quite small there, none of these Prada giants... apparently cars are expensive. Water and electricity is cheap though.

The next day we meet with another couple who moved back from Dubai and they were able to bring their Chinese maid, a bit of a hassle but possible. Then we were on a flight home.

So the boys?? how did they fair with Teacher Ave? when she got to our house, they weren't even upset that we were leaving!

The two conversations I was told about while we were gone...

Conversation 1:
Nate: Mabo when is my mother coming back?
Mabo: in a few more sleeps, on sunday early morning...
Nate: Not that mom, Avellyn!
Mabo: !!!

(woo hoo, more holidays for me and loren alone, I think we have stumbled upon a golden opportunity!)

Written in the School weekly newsletter: Avellyn was talking to Nate and calling him "my darling", Nate was most put out and said "don't call me all that stuff, just call me Nate".

He's quite cute, sometimes he asks what are his names, he lists them as Nate, Nate Zev, Kai Kai and Huang Kai. He has not had a bedwetting accident in a long time and Avellyn is also impressed by his 100 piece puzzle skills.

Ike went to school today and showing everyone his "boo boo" thumb.

Yes the hospital again...

So... after Ike's swollen finger came down a bit, we notice a dark line, it could be a splinter or a bruise or dried blood... we wait a day and a poll shows that most moms think its a splinter, so off to the hospital we go (again!) at 4 pm.

The dr that sees it suggests immediate check in as the surgeon is available at 8pm. We do Xrays and nothing is visible (bruise?? dried blood? another miracle at the Xray place? btw where ike is watching thomas the train is where nate jumped on and relocated his arm)., well bad news this time, its a splinter.

We check into the ward, no food or drink for ike, he doesn't complain and just lies quietly on my chest and watches TV. Loren goes home to put Nate to sleep and joins me, Michelle brought some clothes (cleaned Ike up a bit with a wipe down) and delicious tacos, which i had to eat much later...

The dr comes and explains that with anything to do with the hand, he wants to be more aggressive and so he wants to take the nail out and clean the area properly, so there is no blood poisoning or further infection where the thumb has to be removed (in which case I quote, "then you might as well take of the whole hand as we are the only primates that can use the thumb).

We finally get prepped for surgery at 815, Ike likes his little robe (I think he would have made a cute little girl), the hospital is really nice so are the staff. They gas him and he drops off to sleep with no fuss (expectation was a for a bit of excitement in the child). Surgery at 9 is out by 930, screaming and disorientated, hates his drip, pulls it out, blood is flying and squirting! He calms down and is asleep. The splinter is 8mm in length. The nail bed was slightly slightly infected and the nail was loose, it would have popped out in 5 days. I should maybe gold plate the splinter? and mount it on a small frame and hang it on the Ike wall (like in Meet the Fokkers), the thumbnail will require too much gold with gold prices today!

Well no sleep for me! he moves around the cot alot, at some point his surgery robe comes off (I put on a shirt for him). He got home at 6am ate a BIG bowl of cereal and popped back for a nap at 8am, its 10am now... and he has a bandage appointment at 11... will we make it? Ike happily shows off his big "boo boo".

He has some thumbnail therapy to do as well, which I think involves a massage and moving the thumb. Enough adventures! tho while he was checked in, another boy (aged 11?) was in as he was involved in a motorbike accident on one of those tracks here and burst his spleen. Should I cocoon these kids up?

The weekend...

Nate went to another birthday party, this one had a water slide, of course not waiting for me to shoot he dashes off, kinda looks like flash in this shot... tho it could also be a frame of the cartoon, calvin and hobbes, where calvin dashes off somewhere?

Well the large purple jacaranda trees are in full bloom. We're having a bit of a heat wave...

We found a great restaurant on Friday, apart from it being in the center of town, it was very modern and the food was excellent, I am now inspired to make a beetroot challah. Its got a strange name, Narina Trogan, their salads of baby greens reminded me to plant more seed and harvest the baby greens for loren's salad. Oh and I got the first batch of cherry radishes today. The large mosaic wall is from their restaurant.

This jellyfish lamp is from another restaurant, a greek one that we go to often, I think we may have succeeded and bringing the kids there for a weekend meal instead of Cape Town Fish Market all the time, also I can get sushi from the restaurant across. You guys should see ike wolf down taramosalata (and nate prounouce that).

On the radio today, nate and i heard a comedian, he asked why the guy is called an animal (chameleon)... after a long explanation, he said dada is sometimes quite the chamedian, apart from the slight mis-pronounciation, I think he may have got the right.

Bris

Ah finally a bris that is not involving my boys! and a bris at a shul! I went to Gaby and Elan's new baby boy's bris, his name is Samuel David and apparently last night they changed his name before the bris today. There was a freak traffic jam so I got there towards the end of the ceremony (before the food), Gabs looks great, Elan was happy the bris went well (he said it was more nerve wrecking than the birth) and the bris is performed by a Rabbi Moshe Sher, he's got a very funny tagline... "its a boy! Take "sher" to make "sure"!", he does have a good booklet that is quite good called, "reflections on important aspects of the bris".

I took a walk around the very beautiful shul, btw the insides were very nice, it just seemed so nice an peaceful. At the back they were building the grass hut for the Sukhot. Nate took a big nap today and has gone with loren to the rabbi's house tonight for Sukhot.

The hospital AGAIN!

This time its Ike's turn... on saturday, we notice his thumb swelling up, we think maybe it will go down, nothing seems broken. On sunday it lookss worse and maybe even with pus... dada takes ike to the hospital. The drs didn't even have to cut his thumb, the pus started oooozing out... and they got alot out apparently with no tears from brutus, I mean ike.

So they send us home with antibiotics and to wash his thumb in salt water. Last night there was still some yucky pus... today it seems a bit better but part of his nail looks lifted and there is like a black splinter or something embedded in the side of his nail. I hope not tho, how to remove that I have no clue. Hope the antibiotics work!

Nate went to the karate like show called jump and enjoyed it so much I have tickets again to take him this week, he didn't make it to the end of Beverly Hills Chihuahua tho (I want to know the ending!!! so anyone who has seen it please tell me!).

I also ordered some kites from the US, yesterday was quite windy, we manage to get them up. Here is Ike flying his first kite. I didn't get a shot of nate but he managed to really get it up. I miss the kits my dad bought for us, they were really of good quality and impressively large, the ones I ordered really seem small. I also hope to get another kite bag to keep all the stuff organized and want to start acquiring some big kites again, must remember to send my dad a thank you note for all the kite flying he taught us.

Another day another adventure...

Todays adventure began like this... I arrive at school and Nate's arm is limp, he says it hurts to lift but no broken bones were detected, he said he fell in the morning in the barn and his teacher said as the time went on he used less and less of his arm. So I didn't wait till Ike woke up and took nate to the emergency room.

With the dr his arm was still limp, the dr said sometimes there may be a fracture and off to the xray room we went, while waiting there, nate decides to jump on the sofa... he yells as he lands on the shoulder of his limp arm (not a child genius but maybe high tolerance for pain? a future wrestler?)... I'm thinking great... now a cast?? We get called in and as we walk to the room something strange happens, he can wriggle his fingers again and his arms are flapping and doing all sorts of things!

I guess something snapped into place? He then spends the afternoon making up for lost time when he couldn't jump and monkey around. We go pick Ike up, he is happily dancing in the garden near the stables in a circle with other little friends and having a good time!

Its October

Its spring time here but yet I still can't get my head around the fact that its october and its spring time. Goes to show how stuck my head is conditioned to the northern hemisphere sense of seasons. I feel likes its April but people are talking about Christmas!

Here are some pics of the boys when they are nice to each other, which is quite often and thus they do hold hands quite often. Ike when asleep... at the toy store, ike seemed to want to only play with the wet wipes. Its spring and all the ducks, geese and chickens in school have little baby chicks... at least my kids know what a live one looks like!

So the boy's Chinese teacher that comes on the weekdays will be moving to Durban. We had such a good momentum going for a while.

I will be attending the first bris that does not involve my sons! Gaby and Elan have a baby boy, they didn't want to find out but all throughout the pregnancy, Gaby felt it was a boy...

Nice Sunday - pm

At 2pm we headed out to Axel's birthday party. I think I now know why families have weekend BBQs together, the kids can entertain themselves and play among themselves. We just need a home to wreck every week. The kids swam, chased each other, played in the toy room and generally left the adults alone, aaahhh.

Here's the creative party food that Gertrude made. The mini sausages reminds me of the dish Sangeeta made for me years ago, mini sausages pan fried with green grapes that turned out really nice.

A milipede and an alligator. Michelle's rose bush in full bloom!

Loren will be in Cape Town end of november, I will join him and we can spend the weekend there, so am now trying to decide whether we go to Hermanus (by the ocean, whale watching and wine) or Franshhoek (lots of wine and the Tasting Room, a fantastic restaurant)... I think I may go a day earlier and check out the big worm farm at the Mount Nelson Hotel and also see the botanical garden.