Eventful First Lesson!

I signed up for a 12-week beginner's belly dancing course sometime ago. Me! The one who is seriously deprive in coordination skills, who still can't ski and has never been interested in any kind of activities which is remotely related to the word "Sport", is going belly dancing! I can't believe it myself, that I actually signed up for it. I think I really am desperate to do something by myself without kids clinging onto me and the fact that my good friend, Siryn, is the belly dance teacher helps to nail the deal.

The lesson is on every Tuesday, from 5pm to 6.30pm. And in my attempt to be slightly independent, I requested for a bicycle from hubby, which he gladly agreed! (I think he's quite happy to not driving me around...) So I got my bicycle! Look, it's sparkling new!


I was hesitant about bicycling coz the last time I bicycled was.... too long for me to remember! But I was determined to do it.

28 Sept finally arrived! I had already knew the route from my place to the school, even though it is a driving route, I decided to take that one anyway, I don't want to be lost somewhere and miss my first lesson. Hubby came home earlier than usual to take over. I got dressed and before I got out of the door, hubby stopped me to strap on the dorky helmet on me... oh well, if it makes him feel better, so be it.

I was bicycling for a while when I thought that it'll be good to do a time check (coz I was bicycling quite leisurely...:P) One glance at the time, I panic! I have 15mins to get to the school. So I was peddling like a mad woman! Panic and peddling is not good together, my heart felt like it's gonna burst and I thought I was going to faint! I had to stop several times. The thing about bicycling along the main road is that there was a lot of after-work traffic. Those people sitting comfortably in their "peddling-free" cars must be looking at me and getting amused. (it could just be in my head though!) I was feeling so self-conscious, that I whipped out my phone and pretended to tap at it... *loser*

At exactly 5pm, I arrived and parked my bicycle. Then I realised that I need to figure out which room it is. All the entrances to the school were locked! I was walking around when a girl saw me and let me in. She then told me that the room was on the 4th floor. I dragged my now-getting-seriously-jellied-like legs up to the 4th floor but still couldn't find any rooms which was opened. I called my friend. She said that it should be on the 2nd floor and she has put up a sign on the door that said, "Belly dance". So down I went to the 2nd floor but still no one was around, the place was just deserted. I called my friend again. She suggested for me to go out and she'd come and fetch me. Feeling really bad for interrupting her, I waited outside. After some time of making my poor friend, who was dressed for belly dancing - sleeveless, half-cropped top, capri pants and a belly dancing sash tied around her hips, walking around outside of the building in the cold and windy autumn weather, I figured out that I may have gone to the wrong school.... I caught a couple walking by and asked... "Folkungaskolan? It's on the other side of the road." Of course....

I took some more time to finally find the right school and the right building. Looking at the building, I totally understood why my friend was so bewildered when I told her I was on the 4th floor - the building has only 2 floors... =.="

I think there are enough embaressment in this post, I'll post more about me on my first belly dancing (it was more like "jiggling the wrong body parts and flapping my arms around like a crazy bird" for me..) lesson very soon. Stay tuned! That is, if you haven't fall asleep reading this post... :P

Package From Home

I received an email from a dear friend last week telling me I have a package to track. I was really excited! Wonder what the girls are sending me? New Years decorations? Isn't it kind of early? (or really late!)

Finally it arrived and I bicycled to pick it up earlier. Thank God my bicycling skill is quite ok, even though I haven't been doing it for a loooooong time. Hubby was worried that I would break a leg or two, so he bought me a helmet as well. I don't think I look exactly stunning wearing the helmet (not that I'm anywhere near stunning when I am NOT wearing the helmet, but that's beside the point!), but since Angel is bicycling with me and she has to wear a helmet, I have to be a good example and wear my helmet too.

We made it home in one piece and none of the eggs are broken! (well, I bought some groceries as well.) When I saw the postage cost, I feel sorry for my friends for spending so much but still, I couldn't wait to see what was inside!

And when I opened it.... a box filled with goodies!

Look! Look!

My favorite titbits - pocky! Which everybody, who has been reading this blog for sometime, will know by now! ^.^

The latest book by my favorite illustrator! The ever so talented and full of fantasy - Jimmy!

Lanterns for us to add more Mid-Autumn Festival mood...

Fun stationery for Jovan and Angel...

Read-made curry sauce from Killiney! I have no idea they are into curry as well, kaya toast and coffee have always been what they do best.

Precious Moments cross-stitch tote bag, which I have no idea when I'll have time to work on...

Then I saw this box... ok... the girls are hinting that I need to watch my fast-expanding-and-getting-out-of-control body size...

And I opened it to see a box of candle for the lanterns and a mysterious must-be-glass thing wrapped in newspaper...

It's the famous Killiney kaya spread!!!!! I love you girls!!!! Oh, how I miss kaya!!!

Angel didn't want to light up the lanterns because she didn't want to burn them up. So we hang them up instead with Ivan's help. ^.^ Well, he gave directions on which one to hang where.

And I was reading the newspaper, which the girls used to wrap up the kaya spread... I know, I really miss home... Reading about this and that happening back home and was happy to know that my good old friend, Sir Stamford Raffles is getting his shower now and again! :D

Angel told me,"Mommy, you have very nice friends."

Thank you Annie and Anthea for sending me these goodies and the thoughts in choosing the gifts. I'll be eating my kaya toasts with a big big smile on my face! ^.^

A Weekend of Hope and Dream...

My mother-in-law came over for a stay-over visit this weekend. The kiddos missed her a lot, especially Ivan, who always want to go into the car to go to farmor (grandma). Not sure if he just like to be in the car or he really misses farmor so much...?

So after some frantic, last minute cleaning of our always messy apartment, I managed to squeeze in some time to bake an apple crumble (hubby's all-time favorite!), so we can have coffee and apple crumble when MIL arrives. And when she arrived, she brought with her - APPLE CRUMBLE as well! What a coincidence! I should have made egg tarts instead!

And as always when my MIL comes for a visit, the topic of how it is possible to live in an apartment for a family of 6, will come up. Then we'll look on the internet for some houses and do some calculation, just for the fun of it. However, this time, hubby and I really fell in love with a house we saw at the place we like!!!!


(picture taken from www.svenkfast.se)


(picture taken from www.svenkfast.se)

This is a 3-storey house and it has 6 bedrooms, a huge kitchen and spacious living room. It is located at Ljungsbro, which is about 15km away from Linköping. The reason why both hubby and I like Ljungsbro is because the landscape has got slopes and hills, unlike Linköping which is basically just flat.

We like this house so much, we actually packed everybody into the car (including my MIL, but she sat herself in, we don't have to pack her in... why am I explaining this? I don't know...) and drove to check it out! And seeing this house for real just made our hearts ache with wanting... It costs almost 3 million Swedish crown, which is roughly SGD 600,000. I know my friends and family living in "land-deprived" Singapore will scream at this point,"What?! That's a steal! How can a big house be so cheap?!" Well, Sweden is huge, my friends.... Anyway, we can't afford it at this point, maybe in another year or two... So for now... we can just look at the picture of this house and drool... I mean dream....

After our "dreamy" drive, we dropped by the supermarket to get chips and something to make for dinner. After dinner, we planted ourselves in front of the tv, watching a program on the 2 possible Prime Minister candidates (1 is the current Prime Minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt and the other is Mona Sahlin, who could be possibly the first female Prime Minister of Sweden! Girl Power!), followed by a comedy talkshow "Parlamentet" which makes fun of the government/politicians through ridiculous debates, very funny!

The next day, we woke up early to have breakfast before walking to the kiddos' school to vote. Being a non-citizen who has been living here for more than 3 years, I can vote for the county council and the municipality, which is a good thing because any decision made at any of these 2 levels will have a direct impact on us. Jovan and Angel also took the opportunity to show farmor their school and Angel showed off her craft project, a crocheted pig, which is currently on display at the entrance to the school cafeteria.

On the way there, my sweet Taiwanese neighbour, Shu Ping, passed me some Teochew-style mooncakes with green bean fillings, which she made herself! These are really good, even hubby likes it! I'm so blessed! ^.^




Actually she tried to call me the day before, wanting to ask if I would like to make mooncakes with her. However, I left my phone at home when we were out driving. So when I returned her call the next morning, she told me that she has mooncakes for me! ^.^ We have also planned to make mooncakes with red bean paste either tomorrow or the day after! I've never make mooncakes before, this is so exciting! *rubbing hands together*

We're waiting for the result of the election as I'm typing this post. We'll continue to dream of our big house and at the same time hoping for a better change in the political climate of Sweden.

Angel Taking The Leap!

Yesterday was the annual School Olympic again. All schools in Linköping are allowed to take part and it's mainly for students from Year 3 to Year 6.

Angel has been talking about it since August. Initially she was hesitant in participating coz she thought that she is not good in any of the events. I told her to get a few of her friends and just sign up for the fun of doing it. So finally, she decided to take part in long jump, together with 2 of her other classmates.

It was the beginning of autumn kind of weather that day - cloudy, slightly windy and it was a little cold. According to the paper we got from the school, Angel's event should start at 11.40am, however, when we arrived, we were told that her event was supposed to start at 12.55pm instead. That was annoying especially when we have a toddler and a baby who needed to be on the go constantly! They really should look into organizing this event in a better way with clear instructions to the schools and also directional signs at the location, so people won't walk around like they are on the set of "Lost"...

Ok, I should stop complaining and get on with the pictures, which are more fun! ^.^


Angel wasn't so nervous that day.


It is tricky to get them to take a "look-friendlier-to-each-other" kinda picture nowadays...


Angel did some running before her event started to warm up...


Angel, her best friend, Sanica and her classmate Alicia, all took part in the same event.


While waiting for Angel's event to start, Jovan entertained himself at the expense of his little brother... just kidding, Jovan was a great help in pushing the pram around with Chris screaming at the top of his lungs and keeping Ivan entertained. ^.^


Angel in action!

They got 2 trial jumps and 3 actual jumps and they'd take the best result of the 3 jumps. Angel's best was 1.63m. After Angel finished her third jump, hubby wanted to go home. I told him we should wait to see if she got into the final. Finally, after everybody has finished jumping, I wanted to go check on the board to see if Angel was in the final.

Hubby, who has gotten restless of waiting, told me, not in these exact words but something to the same effect,"Well, you know there is a minimum distance they have to reach to be able to be qualify into the final."

I looked at him and asked,"So you know the minimum distance required?"

He nodded and replied,"And I think we can go now."

But I think Angel had fun and the point is that she tried.

Well done Angel! 1.63m is much better than mommy! I can probably jump about 50cm, and that's probably (HIGHLY possible actually!) due to the "extras" (think cheese cakes, chocolates, chips....)I'm carrying.... =.="