28th January 2015 - Zac's First Time Falling Asleep By Himself

Zac started Prep on the 20th January 2015. He is attending big boy school now. I really cannot believe that he's already 5 years old!

On the 28th January, there was a parent information session in Zac's school. I had to ask mum to come and help with Zac as the session was at night.

When we got home from the session, Zac was in his room while mum was out in the living room. We thought that he had fallen asleep so quickly that night, but we were advised by mum that he said he wanted to sleep all by himself.

So for the first time in his life he actually fell asleep without having us in the room with him. Another milestone reached. He did it again today on the 29th January. He was in his room telling minecraft stories to himself. He came out of the room asking for water a few times after that and to press my computer keyboard out of jest. He's such a champ!

It's a bitter sweet experience for Dave and I because we are so proud and happy that Zac is getting more and more independent. On the other hand, it means that he will need us lesser and lesser now. We are going to miss all these dependencies when one day he is fully grown up and self dependent for everything.

On a side note, Zac read nearly 80 percent of the book titled 'Scary Hair' all by himself. He's really improving by leaps and bounds. He also got level 2 piano books today. He was elated! He just wanted to dive into all the new pieces in the book.

Oh Zac. What would life be without you in my life? I love you so much!

Pictures of him in all his uniforms in school.

4th January 2015 - Zac's First Sleep Over

Today marks another milestone for Zac. He slept with Anne through the night. Although it's with his cousin, but it's still his first. My boy is really a grown up now.

Singapore - A new adventure

After 9 crazy months in Dubai we finally arrived Singapore after a trip to Perth in March 2014.

Upon arrival, the humidity kicked in almost immediately upon touch down. The stickiness was something that I never looked forward to given the hyperhydrosis condition that I have.

The journey from Changi airport to Orchid Hotel in Tanjong Pagar was a familiar yet weird feeling. The streets lined up with trees, less aggressive drivers on the road, thick, white clouds in the blue skies and the Toyotas and Nissans brought back memories of the past both bitter and sweet. There was a sense of excitement of what's to come in the days ahead I'm Singapore.

The first few days were jam packed with house hunting, school visiting, hopping on and off the agents car, trying to decide the best place to rent. After the ordeals in Dubai, alot of thought were put into the decision for our next place in Singapore. After deciding that Zac would be attending the Australian International School, we narrowed down our search to just around Lorong Chuan and decided on Goldenhill Park Condominium.

While Dave started work a week after, Zac and I explored the Tanjong Pagar area, had haircuts, went crazy in the hotel room, ate different local food, perspired bucket loads and finally we got our house keys after 5 days to ease all the craziness.

We moved into our place after our shipment arrived and most essentials were unpacked. Our TV cabinet was damaged during the shipment and we went through another ordeal to get the insurance claim sorted. Apart from that everything settled in smoothly.

Zac started school a couple of days after and settled into Miss Lee's class well. He got on really well with Miss Soo when we first got to class and went in without a hint of hesitation. His first few friends in school were Zhehan and Shihang. We were so proud of him for being such a champ settling into a new environment yet again.

The first week was really a fun time walking to school with Zac. We didn't have a car yet and were still deciding whether we should or should not get a car. Although it was really hot and humid, the time spent with Zac walking to and fro school was really good and it's something that I will cherish as sweet memories forever.

The week after we got our temporary Toyota Axio. Life was so much easier after we got the car. I could finally do grocery shopping without having to worry about how to carry them home in a train.

Dad and mum also came to visit and spent time with us after we moved in to our new place. It is really good to have them near.

Dave and I often ponder, 'Are we really in Singapore?'. The feeling is surreal whenever we walked the streets in Singapore during the first couple of weeks when we first arrived. We never thought Singapore would be one of our adventures away from Perth.

Little Zac who is growing day by day would one day start protesting our frequent moves. But for now, we as a family of three would absorb as much experience as we can while in Singapore. It's a great opportunity for Zac to experience the culture of our roots and I'm sure this would be something that he too will cherish when he gets older.

Singapore, you have a special place in our lives now and when we look back down the years, you will definitely bring a smile to our faces.

Zac's highlights in Dubai

I have decided to blog about Zac's stay in Dubai so next time when we look back, we are able to reminisce the time he was 3/4 in Dubai.

Zac was 3 when he came to Dubai. He went to Emirates Hills Nursery for a couple of months upon arrival. His teachers were Miss Kiran, Miss Amy and Miss Vanessa. Some of his friends were Oman, Mohammed, Seohyun, Sosei, Abdullah to name a few. He settled in alright for that few weeks he was in school. 

Then it was the school holidays. He went to play school (Dubai British School) for a few days and we decided that he was not ready for it. He then started swimming lessons with Hamilton swimming school which he enjoyed very much. Zac also enrolled him karate which he attended every now and again.

In July, he started attending Bradenton Preparatory Academy in Sports City. He was in Miss Kelly's class. His other teachers were Miss Azra, Miss Sarah, Mr Waldo and Miss Digna to name a few. Zac was in the green house (cheetah) and some of his friends were:

Zac blended into his new class very well and his teachers often say that he's the 'top student' in his class. He speaks fluently and eloquently and he is one level ahead of his peers. Zac was also given special classes on a daily basis for 15-20 minutes to focus on more challenging things in class to keep him interested.

Zac made many new friends in Dubai. He also celebrated his 4th birthday in Dubai. We invited Gavin, Seane, Alvin, Quain, Bryan, Sew Keng, Kendrick, Laura, Shinta and her three kids, Esther and chantille. On his birthday, we played games such as the rolling of car game, passing parcel and also dancing game. He had Spider-man theme for his birthday and had Spider-Man cake too. He was dressed as spidey for his birthday. There was also a car piñata at the end of his birthday party with lots of candies and chocolates for picking. Mum and I made the car piñata out of cereal boxes. All in all, Zac had a great day.

Zac seems to enjoy Dubai. In Dubai, he has been to many places; Al Ain Zoo, Abu Dhabi mosque, Kidzania - twice, Kiddieville, Burj Khalifa, Museum, Desert safari - twice, Ski Dubai just to name a few.

A few more days and we will be out of this country. In years to come, when Zac is older, I can tell him that he's had lots of fond memories 'growing up' in Dubai although it was only for 9 months.

3 more days left in Dubai

It has been a roller coaster ride since my last post. Good things happened that turned to bad and made my life upside down and left side right.

In September, we all went back to Malaysia to celebrate dad's 70th birthday. It all went pretty well and I am glad that we went back to do so. On dad's birthday morning, I found out that I was pregnant. I was in ecstasy. It was the first time after having Zac that we've had such good news - my pregnancy.

Dad and mum flew back to Dubai with us for a holiday and stayed with us for two months. 

In November at about 10 weeks,  when we visited the doctor for an ultrasound, we found out that the baby in my tummy stopped growing at 7 weeks. I was shattered to pieces. I wept for days and days and so did Dave. I haven't seen Dave cried so much in my entire marriage with him. We both mourned the loss for days. We then let go of our little angel baby and agreed that he/she is in a better place. I had my d&c on the Monday immediately after the scan. It was heart wrenching knowing that that day was the last day the baby was going to be in me, and the last day I would have anything to do with him/her. I was heart broken. Up till now, the loss is felt strongly whenever it comes to mind.

The house in Las Casas was also giving lots of problems to the point that I was paranoid that the house is haunted. I've had too many incidences in the house that up till today, I'm still convinced that it is indeed a dirty house. I believe in spirits and spiritual attacks and I definitely felt a strong presence of something that didn't welcome us in that house. The things that happened while living in that house is strange, weird and coincidental beyond words. I will not go into details here as those are painful and scary memories which I do not wish to remember.

The string of events led hubby dearest to rethink about our move to Dubai. He applied to move out of Dubai and got offers from Scotland, Malaysia, Italy and Singapore. We eventually made the decision that Singapore would be our next location due to the close proximity to home and family.

After the decision was made, life just got busy with packing, clearing, planning, researching, etc.. On the 10/2/2014, we finally moved out of the house into the Dunes apartment; the apartment we first lived in when we moved to Dubai. Life is so much better after leaving the house.

Three days from today, we will be boarding the plane to Perth for five days and we will say adios to Dubai for good! I am so looking forward for that day to come. 

Just as in Norway, people are the hardest to say good bye to. But as always, I believe that our paths will definitely cross again in the future. 

New life, new country, new memories, I am ready for you!

Karate

Zac's having his fifth karate lesson and I'm out here waiting for him. He still wants us to go into class with him fearing that we would leave him here himself. But he's enjoying his lesson heaps though.

A junior from convent named Esther just arrived Dubai to join her husband here. I'm so happy to know someone from my hometown. At least there are stuff that we can relate to. Common friends, familiar places to talk about and similar lifestyle growing up in JB. Have yet to meet her yet, but I'm sure we will soon. She's just in the next suburb too.

Life has been tiring as usual. Dave brought us down to Al Ain and we stayed in the Hilton hotel resort, visited the zoo and went up to Jebel Hafeet. The zoo is pretty amazing. Well kept and we could spot most of the animals on display. The time away was a very good one. We played on the water slide in the resort and we also had good Japanese food there. All in all it was a very good getaway.

I'm looking forward to our next holiday.

Down...

Nearly mid August now. Feeling rather down in the dumps at the moment. August is meant to be a good month usually, but this month, it's exceptionally gloomy.

Sis will be having a procedure at the end of the month and I pray that everything goes smoothly and she'll recover in no time. 

As for me, loads of rubbish clouding my mind. It's like I'm in a middle of a storm and the wind is blowing hard. All I can see ahead is darkness and I can hardly keep my eyes open because of the rain and wind. Behind, there's a fierce animal chasing me forcing me to keep running regardless of my circumstances. Ahead, there's the end of a cliff where it's a dead end. I'm getting panic attacks but I just have to bite the bullet and keep running forward. I reach the end of the cliff and the animal corners me. Question now is, to jump or not to jump?

A weird imagery of what I'm going through now, but that's exactly how I feel at the moment.

Dave got me some roses which did brighten up my day abit. I hope this storm passes soon. In the mean time, ill hang in there and not jump.