Monday, March 31, 2008

Are They Spring Wears, Beach Wears, Tourist Wears Or What?

Many brave tourists in Sanya were seen wearing these outfits. Men, women, kids, young and old people, they wear them. They do look like pajamas, don't they? I saw them worn in the hotel lobby, along the beach and tourist attraction places. Honestly, my comment (inside my head only) when I saw them the very first time was, "OMG!!!" Subsequently, it was "Are you kidding???" and "Goodness, what are they thinking...." All were just in my head. My super ignorant DH didn't see them until I asked him, " Did you see that man wearing.... don't look!" Of course, DH looked! He said, "Shall we buy them for the children?" Yeah, if I were mad....





By The Beach

When businesswomen and businessmen in Sanya are tired, they just rest on the beach. These people sell necklaces, they offer fishing trips, etc. Despite many tourists, business was quiet.

Bits & Pieces From The Getaway

From Changi to no blogspot in China. I am quite positive that some types if not all, forms, of bloggings are blocked in China. And many many websites as well that we just couldn't open. I kept on trying to open and had my guesses and I was right. I googled it and apparently, that is the case.

Aside from that, we had to say that we had a nice relaxing holiday. We were able to IM our No.1, who was home alone, and other family members and that was important because we always like to make sure that everybody is okay. It was certainly extremely nice not having to tell any of the kids to tidy their rooms, pick up their laundry, wash their dishes and everything else that was supposed to be their responsibility but conveniently forgotten, all the time. This, hadn't happened in a long long time. I only need to worry about myself & DH, not much. It's pretty much what our next meal going to be and what we are going to do next, which was mostly nothing.

Sanya was lovely, but surprisingly, there were plenty of tourists, more than I thought, subsequently there were lots of people along the beach and around the pools most of the time. We didn't manage to see blue sky, but the weather was pleasant irregardless. Interestingly, Russians love to go there. Enough Russians that some banners/boards on the streets were written in Russian and the menus in many of the restaurants were in Russians as well, along with Chinese and English.

With many big investors from Hong Kong coming in, there were many constructions on the way and are ready to change the innocent face of Sanya. Despite the fact that many hotels are already in place, Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott, Crowne Plaza, etc, to name some, many more are on the way too. That place is booming. Being only an hour and 15 minutes away from Hong Kong by plane, Sanya should be one of favorite destinations for the Hong Kong people to get away from their daily hectic life.

With no kids around, on the way to Hong Kong, I was able to watch Juno from the beginning to the end, I love it. Ellen Page was great, certainly deserved an Oscar nomination and the story line was really good, it was absolutely fantastic to see no big explosion from the parents' side upon finding out that their 16-year old daughter was pregnant and at the same time it was good to see how a young girl take responsibility over her "mistake". I am not exactly a movie goer/lover, but the opportunity to see another movie was there again, on the way back and this time I picked August Rush, which I enjoyed as well.

It's now back to the daily routine again. Boo hoo. Laundry piled up high. Laundry from South Korea trip made it back safely together with our No.2 who had a great hiking time in South Korea and took some nice pictures as well, will be posted whenever they are ready. Laundry from New Zealand will arrive tomorrow night, together with its owner, the pre-teen.

Now we have two back at home and they have started reminding us again of having teenagers at home IS NOT A WALK IN THE PARK!!!! Holiday is over! I need another one really soon, I am sure of.

Term 3 won't start until next Monday. So,
"Unpack your bag!"
"Pick up your laundry, will you!?"
Here we go again.......

Sunday, March 23, 2008

From Changi, Terminal 3

Happy Easter!



Having packed everything we need, I hope, we made it to the new terminal here. Gorgeous and spacious, I wish I had more to explore this place. They've got plenty of shops selling everything you need, lots of computers with free internet access, places to eat and many other services.



It's cloudy out there, a little gloomy feeling. Left behind at home my soon-to-be-17-year old who is still tired from her trip, but, I do need her words to describe it, excited to be left alone at home for the first time for many days. It's probably a nice birthday present for her without many realizing it. Home alone!!!

Saturday, March 22, 2008

I Have To Pack

We've just sent off our No.3 to Auckland (again) with the school. In less than an hour, we'll be driving our No.2 to school, she'll be going hiking in South Korea with the school. Our No. 1 arrived after 1AM this morning from Banda Aceh on school project. A very busy Spring Break indeed.

It'll be our (mine & DH's ) turn to leave tomorrow morning, in approximately 17 hours. We'll be heading to beautiful beach in Sanya, Hainan Island via Hong Kong. Now, I need to start packing and get going with packing. Come on start packing!! I have been procrastinating it again and again, I kept on trying to make sure that everyone that is leaving, bring whatever they need. It's quite cold in South Korea especially around the area where my No.2 is going to spend time in.

I am exhausted and I have to pack! What is wrong with me? Instead of packing, I am blogging. Another way of procrastination...... I love to travel, but I dislike packing and unpacking.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Seven Days of Cheese Bread




Obviously, we (except my number 2) enjoy cheese bread and we really could eat them on daily basis. For a week, without fail, cheese breads have been produced on daily basis and eaten up almost immediately. I enjoyed baking them the most, tasted a little bit of it and left the rest of the gang to finish off what I baked. Of course, we have been eating other things as well, but we still could fit in some cheese bread into our stomach. On the 8th day, I decided to bake a plain one, which actually I like better, and had them with butter. It's lip-smacking .... On the 9th day, we were back to cheese bread again! Oh, well, can't stay away too long. Next week maybe, when the baker will physically be away from the kitchen for some good five days, to China.



Saturday, March 15, 2008

Back To Chocolate



The last time I made something with chocolate was on Valentine's day, it was back a month ago, quite a long time for my kids' standard. I have been baking mostly bread, bread and bread over the past few weeks. I remember baking these dark chocolate puds some months ago, but I couldn't really remember the adjustments that was needed back then after I made them. Should have written them down. I knew that they could be made better, but since I couldn't remember, I just sticked as close as possible to the recipe. They looked good, they tasted okay, but I wish they had been a little sweeter and gooier..... I have used unsweetened chocolate instead of semi-sweet, but not adding enough sugar to compensate it. Hope I'll do better next time. With a scoop or two of ice cream, the taste significantly improves!!!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Difference

On weekends, when the kids are at home, the sink is full of dirty dishes and the water jugs in the fridge are empty.--- :)

On weekdays, when the kids are at school, the sink is clear and the water jugs in the fridge are full. ---:(

Sounds silly, but true!

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Bread Eaters



It's weekend again and last night I thought it would be nice to make another cheese bread from the children (exclude my number two, she is Pizza Hut lover, not so much into my bread!). DH is still away on business trip to Japan, he is right now flying up there heading back here. Yes, up there to down here!! I can hardly wait to report to him all the details that his lovely kids have done to me this week. Ha!



Somebody had the courtesy of leaving a little peace of the cheese bread that I baked this morning, and nobody finished it off until nearly dinner time. It was done by the same person, i.e the biggest fan of my bread of course. One of the two fans. I am happy that I have at least two people in this household liking them so much and leaving the crumbs all over the place. They clean up the bread well but are not too bothered to clear up the mess that come with it. Kids!



I always find some sort of little excitement from baking bread. I love waiting for the bread to rise and bake in the oven and how it starts to crack up and turn into golden brown. And the smell.... just delicious smell of the bread. Nothing beats the bread made in your oven with your own hand. This morning, making bread has distracted me from thinking so much over the sharp fall in Dow Jones Industrial Average yesterday, now it is under 12,000. I am not looking forward to seeing what will happen on Monday on Asian markets. Boo hoo.

Friday, March 07, 2008

Ssshhhhh

Quietly, a little embarrassed to admit, I have been continuously making bread quite often. My second daughter thinks that I am addicted to bread making, that was a reply from her when I told her that she was addicted to Pizza Hut. Towards the end of last year, she ordered pizza nearly every weekend, mostly for herself. The rest of us practically had a slice or just watched her eating. I, then, told her that she could only order in January, which was approximately a month away. Come January, she ordered one medium pizza for herself. Subsequently, I told her that she had to wait until March before she was allowed to order again.

Barely 12 o'clock noon, on March 1st, she called up Pizza Hut and had one medium pepperoni pizza delivered......

Next order will be in May, or later, or much much much later.

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

A Quote: My Wish For You

There are times when we feel down and really need someone to pull us out because we just do not see any helps coming. This is for those who need encouragement and the five ladies celebrating their birthdays this month, yours sincerely included. Hope it warms your heart up.

“This is my wish for you:
Comfort on difficult days,
smiles when sadness intrudes,
rainbows to follow the clouds,
laughter to kiss your lips,
sunsets to warm your heart,
hugs when spirits sag,
beauty for your eyes to see,
friendships to brighten your being,
faith so that you can believe,
confidence for when you doubt,
courage to know yourself,
patience to accept the truth,
Love to complete your life.”


Author: Unknown

Have a lovely day and let's try to make the best of what we have!