Family trip

It's Friday and we are heading to Bali tomorrow for the first international Dorett family trip, to celebrate my in laws' 50th anniversary (part II). Daddy M is pretty excited over the trip despite his hampered mobility and yes, he is limping there!

It will also be my first time meeting three of M's nephews from the US and Australia (checking one of my to-do's in 2008!)

This is probably the first holiday that I am totally switched off in the planning-where to stay, what to do are all discussed among daddy M and his sisters. I just need to ensure our luggages are packed.


Spa, spa, here I come...

Gastronomy at home

I am no fan of fine gastronomy. However for our 4th wedding anniversary last week, we celebrated it with a cliché at home - a small tin of Prunier carviar, truffled frois gras, mini bilinis, creme fraiche and a bottle of Flying Fish Cove wine (which we toasted on the proposal night).

 

Sounds romantic.

Neh. My mom joined us in our celebration and preferred her bilinis with peanut butter! 

See, now you know why I am not an aficionado of luxury delicacies. It’s not in the blood. 

Belated birthday celebration

I realised that I always opted for girls night out for my birthday celebration. The tradition remained this year.

At 9pm we were making our usual funny faces in an unassuming steamboat restaurant. Very decent. 

 

By 2am, we were on the roof top of Kinki (get your minds out of the gutter, it’s a Japanese restaurant), chatting our hearts out and dancing on champagne.

 

It was a very happy belated birthday celebration.

End on a sweet note

It was a good 48-hour trip. A few meetings got cancelled which left me with some free time to walk around the city, combing every floor of Harrods and Harvey Nicols at Knightsbridge.  Unfortunately (or fortunately), the effects of jet lag hindered me from making any emotional big-ticket purchase despite the sale.

I love London. When it’s NOT raining.  I love the medieval architecture, the parks, the curry and the accents… Unlike the past few cities that I was in, I managed to take it slow in London and enjoyed every bit of it. Shopping, fine dining, people watching and fantastic weather. It would have been perfect if daddy M was with me.

When you’re down, the only way is UP and I see this short ‘break’ in London as my UP after the exhausting past few weeks.

This marks the close of a chapter in my crazy work season.  I’m happy to be home.

Good seasons ahead

When I left for my biz trip on Monday, daddy M was in good shape.  When I returned 4 days later, he was lying on a hospital bed with two surgeries done on his knee.  Totally unexpected.

Daddy M’s knee swelled suddenly on Monday night and deteriorated to immobility within days. Before I knew it, he was scheduled for two surgeries (front & back) while I was in between meetings talking to people who think the world of themselves.

I was angry that I couldn’t cancel my trip and be home for my husband.  I was worried. I was stressed out. I felt bad. Most of all I was exhausted mentally and physically.

All I could do was to grit my teeth and continue with my presentations professionally.

I cried intermittently in between meetings and hoped to have a big cry on the plane or in the toilet at the end of the trip. But to my surprise, I found no tears.  Perhaps I really knew that daddy M’s in good hands. God’s protection is surely on my household.

Tomorrow I am flying again. To London. Can you see me gritting my teeth?

I can only carry on with sanity through faith.

All these madness are going to be over soon and I’m expecting some pretty good seasons ahead! VERY SOON!

 

xoxo,

A stronger SK (through Christ).

Jet-setting not

A friend calls me a jet-setter. It sounds glamourous. Another friend who learns that I have driver chauffering me around town for meetings as being a high-flyer. But people who are in the know - including daddy M calls my business trips as wring(s).

My days usually start at 8.30am with 7 to 8 meetings lined up (including lunch meeting). I would retreat to the hotel at about 8pm to unpack and pack for the next city...No time to shop, hardly any time to enjoy the city... On good days, I stretch myself by making dinner appointments with friends who are based locally to avoid having miserable dinners by myself in the hotel room...

Just did a quick google on what definition of jet-setter:-

"Jet set" is a journalistic term that was used to describe an international social group of wealthy people, organizing and participating all around the world in social activities that are unreachable to ordinary people

So I am nowhere near jet-setter or glamourous.


Signing off at KLIA, enroute to HK...

Happy list

Work took over my birthday but I felt extra love this year for the little things and thoughts that others spared me.

Colleagues at work penned down their wishes on little heart-shapes card and put them into a well-wishes jar.  And my junior who has seen me slogged for the past few weeks surprised me with a bottle of sake delivered by a waitress from the nearby bar to my WORKSTATION as I was busy typing away!

SL made me a collage with my favourite list!

Facebook and phone wishes kept me going as I went in and out of meetings…

Hand-peeled (by shih) crab meat Claypot Tanghoon was truly love.

Unplanned mini birthday celebration at Pave.

And because of my crazy schedule this period, I get extended birthday celebrations till July with different groups of friends, including one with daddy M post-birthday (a half-day spa at the St Regis – looking forward!).

Unrealistic Chinse

I have been tasked to help M’s niece, E on her Chinese. With my Chinese-educated background, I didn’t see this as a challenge at first. E told me that ‘comprehension’ would be her weakest link and I chanced upon a vendor near work place who sells a compilation of past exam papers from the elite schools in Singapore. Perfect. So we started our first session.

After seeing the assessment, I needed a drink. They were D.I.F.FI.C.U.L.T.

No wonder she dislikes Chinese! I’m totally appalled by the ‘high’ standards set for this English-speaking society where more than 50% of the children I see don’t speak Chinese, let alone understand the content of the comprehension which is of the standard of a forum in the newspaper or some kind of thesis.

For instance, the comprehension below talks about how parents should encourage their children to be independent. If a person learns to turnaround adversities in life with a cheerful spirit, calmness and optimism, he will achieve the state of ‘nirvana’ in life. (???!!!!!?????!!!!)

Seriously??? Someone in the ministry of education need to swallow some reality pills! I feel the burden of the 12 year olds out there. Can we spare S from this please…..

xoxo,
A PSLE-Chinese-traumatised aunt who needs a drink

More than mommy

Can a mother be a daughter’s best friend? Some say yes, some say no.

Best friend is different than a mother-daughter relationship. It requires having common experiences, eg.  growing up together, attending the same school/ college or being in the workplace together. Mothers and daughters are never in the same stage of life at the same time, so the relationship is never equal.

I recently read that parenting begins with us (the parents), not the child. It is like the analogy of oxygen masks on an airplane. The flight attendants always tell us that in the case of emergency, secure your oxygen mask FIRST and then your child’s.  If we apply this on the ground, only after we are balanced and secure can we model that kind of strength and security in our children.  OK, this sounds very theoretical.

I just wish that I can be one of S’s good friends - need not be the best, but I will be happy if I’m one of her confidants… 

I hope we can have a better relationship than that of between my mom and I.

I hope we can find a way to strike a balance between nurturing friendship while maintaining a healthy mother-daughter dynamic. 

Let’s pray that both of us will have the wisdom to realise this wish…

Different faces

I still can’t see much resemblance of me in S, apart from her determination (ahem) and at-times stubbornness (wink). Her face changes every other month, and this is one of those pictures which I don't think she looks like any of us.

Short-lived ME time

The weather was just nice – not too hot.  It was perfect for my ME time at W’s pool, alone.

So I drove 20minutes (weekend jam?!) and there it was, an empty pool all by myself!

I needed to stretch and swim-off all my neck and body aches built up these past weeks.

Calm and relaxing.  It was good…

10 minutes passed.

I started to see rain drops! And they got bigger and heavier.  It didn’t look like it’s going to stop soon…

I packed up and drove home….

So much so for my ME time.