SKYNI

I was reading Linn her bedtime story and asked her what would she wish for if she has 3 wishes. I told her that she could wish to be ‘smart’ when she grows up.

Her immediate response was ‘But Mummy, I am already smart!’

We had a very nice dinner at Klas and Leaneas last weekend but Linn was particularly taken in by their cat. Sneega. Sneega is a Sphinx cat and is the first ‘furless’ or ‘hairless’ cat I have ever seen. Linn played with him all night and I think, the poor cat was rather traumatised by her.

Linn is always asking for a pet but we keep saying no as she is not old enough to take this responsibility, So for now, she has to be contented with her ‘Little Pet Shop’ pets.

Please allow me to introduce my new friends who are making my life in Sweden so much better. Elsa, Jane and Vernetta, thank you so much (if you are reading this)

Life is definitely better after knowing them. I am enjoying our lunches and gatherings. We have so much fun, joy and laughter.

Elsa is a Malaysian from Penang. She makes fantastic Asian food. Her last attempt at cooking Laksa and Pulot Hitam was a huge success. Her ‘never say die’ attitude and making the best out of every situation is really admirable.

Vernetta is American and really wonderful to be with. She makes me laugh so much and her fantastic aspect to life is truly an inspiration.

Last but not least, Jane who is Korean American (not pictured here) is one of the sweetest, kindest, giving and strongest person I have ever met. She is our ‘Charlotte’ is the group and we are missing her alot as she has been stationed in Korea for the past 3 months.

I miss my old friends alot in Singapore but these girls are really making me smile again.

Finally, we are seeing more snow for the winter. It is definitely colder now but the children are loving it as they get to do their favourite winter sport….pukka. They build their snowman, hit each other with snow balls or simply make snow angels. It is certainly alot of fun.

Wishing everyone a very good Dragon year!

I just finished reading my first Swedish literature ‘Kejsarn av Portugallien’, an assignment by my swedish teacher.

It really really moved me and affected me greatly. In fact I cannot stop thinking about it. Although I had to refer to the dictionary quite often to fully comprehend the meaning of some words, I really enjoyed it.

The book is written by a Nobel prize winner and she wrote about the love of a father for his daughter. It was so moving that I cried. Maybe it made me think of my relationship with my own father. Maybe it is telling me something about my own relationship with my kids or maybe it is the pure simple crazy love between a father and his beloved daughter, how he would never think badly of his ‘always wonderful and good’ daughter and how he believed in his daughter – his only pride and joy.

ok…enough of my rambling..now, i have to pick up my daughter from school.

Linn drives me crazy at times specially when she does not listen to instructions and always testing the boundaries. But at times, she puts a smile on my face.

It was one of those evenings when I felt really dishearten and sad. I was visibly upset and Linn was trying to console me.

Linn said like she really meant it…’Mummy, you can cry on my shoulder’.

And she then placed my head on her small shoulder and patted me on my head to sooth the sadness….

The kids have started their school term and Jonathan has weekly skating and swimming sessions as part of his school curriculum. We think it is excellent for his motor skills. But somehow he never seems to be tired.

Linn is super active in school, constantly demanding action and interaction. Sometimes she gets so tired that she will go straight to bed when she returns from school.

But the weather can be quite tough on the kids. Jonathan’s taxi picks him at 8 am in the morning when it is still dark and drops him home at 5 pm in the evening when it is already dark. On some mornings, when he does not want to get out of bed, he will say that it is not morning time since it is dark outside. At times at 3 pm in the afternoon on weekends, he will actually protest and say ‘it cannot be night time yet’.

Linn on the other hand, does not care and does not mind being outdoors in the dark.

As for their mother, she is happily tucked at home, occasionally enjoying a nice glass of wine, appreciating the warmth from the fireplace specially in the cold, long winter nights, presented lovingly by her husband.

Cheers everyone!

We are having a rather strange winter with very little snow in Stockholm.

Now that the kids have seen the snow, they think Christmas is coming again!!! Maybe they are just being cheeky.

One of my dearest friend, Chin Loo will always throw a fantastic Christmas party at the end of the year and celebrate with some of our closest friends since our RJC friends. For me, it also marks the celebration of another year of our beautiful friendship since the group started when we were 17 years old. And I have known Chin Loo and Chin Chien since we were in Primary 1.

I really miss you girls. It was great seeing them again – Loo, Chien, Al, and Suvien. We miss you at the party Ming, Gek and Liz and hope to see you all again soon.

Here’s to you my precious friends. Have a wonderful 2012!

There’s more but we cannot share unsightly pictures of us stuffing our faces!

So good to see you!

Jon’s favourite place….

What can I say, our resident sommelier(s) were excellent. Great Job!

We have been back in Sweden for almost a week now. Well, the kids are slowly adjusting to the time zone sleeping at 8.30 pm and waking up at around 6 pm. I, on the other hand, will take a while to adjust as I am still waking up at 4 am every morning.

We had a great trip back to Singapore. The familiarity and the warmth of family and friends is really comforting. It was really nice to be back.

It was hard on the kids in the first 2 weeks. They had to get over jet lag in the first week and in the second week, they fell sick as they were not used to the environment and heat. I was really looking forward to meeting our friends but had to cancel meetings as the kids were too sick to get out of the house. Linn was bitten by a rabbit and Jon caught the flu. But we all recovered in time for the great Bali trip and we had such a wonderful time there.

Overall, I would say that these are the top highlights of the trip…

1. Staying with the Queks in their 7 star resort home with cable, food, snacks, wine, laundry and LEGO on demand. Seriously, we are truly blessed. Thank you so much!

2. Bali … Fantastic Villa, Great food, 24 hour butlers, massages, champagne every day, unique shopping…we were pampered!

3. Meeting friends and family ….It was great to catch up with my dear family and good friends. I would have loved to spend more time with friends but it was hard with sick kids. Also being a recluse in Stockholm for such a long time has seriously impaired my planning skills with scheduling meetings. There are dear friends that I did not have time to meet. Thousand apologies…i promise next time.

4. Chinese Channel on SCV … well, I was pretty stuck in the house with sick kids. It was great entertainment for me. Entertainment that I really missed.

5. Chinese food,desserts and soups… needless to say,my waistline expanded quite a bit during my stay. I must say that the best food I ate during the visit were the 8 Unique ‘Xiao Long Bau’ in Paradise Dynasty.

and a lot more actually…but think i better stop here. It is hard enough to get used to the life back in Stockholm once again. 🙂

Can’t wait till the next return trip…