Ashley

I am back. Well, I've been back since Tuesday afternoon. Been battling with jet-lag, housework, kids and everything.

The kids, more specifically, Ash, was thrilled to see us (even though, they were not aware we bought them stuff that were a little too expensive since they weren't sale items *sigh*). At first, when hubby peeked through the window at my MIL's to say hello to her, she looked up and gave him the sweetest smile. Then, she hurried to grab hold of the keys and literally flung it over to my hubby. As soon as hubby opened the door, he held his arms wide open, she put her head down as if to say “I'm upset with you. Where have you been? I've been here the whole time and no one came to get me”. Her head was down for seconds before she ran over to hubby and he scooped her up. And she was happy again.

I didn't see that actually. Hubby narrated the whole thing to me when he and Ash came over to pick Baby Em (that's what she's now known in our household – her aunts been calling her that) and I at my mom's place.

Did I ever mention to you that Ash is a pretty easy going kid? Yeah she is. And how grateful I am for that especially now with Baby Em. I don't think I've truly appreciated what a wonderful kid Ash is. She never gave us any problems ever since she was born. The only tough time we ever had with her was when she was colicky as a baby. But, as soon as that was over, she was easy to care for. She slept through the night as early as 3 months; even sleeping at 8pm or 7 sometimes.

And when, Baby Em was born, I was so afraid that she might be jealous of her. I was wrong. She keep giving her kisses. Strokes her “durian head”. And even attempted to pry open Baby Em's fingers to give her a “hi-5”. We never taught her Baby Em's name but she just picked it up one day and started calling her “Emini...Emini”. Whenever Baby Em cries, Ash is the one jumping up and down, asking us to carry her. She loves her Emini. To bits. Ok, maybe for now...but still...its nice to see them both like this.

In just that short period of time;10 days to be exact, we noticed that Ash has changed so much. She's starting to shake off that “terrible two” stage. She's a lot more settled now. Of course, she hasn't grown into an adult. You know, just more settled as a kid. Someone who has patience and understanding. Truly, she takes after her father.

I've missed her...for a long time now. Ever since Baby Em was born, she's been going to her grandma's for the day, everyday except the weekends. I want to bring her home...soon. If I didn't care for her right for the past 2++ years of her life, I'd like to start over. At least, I hope, it's not too late.

Going home

This is it. My final weekend in Schweiz.

I've had a blast. Now, it's time to go home to my children.

A vacation will always be - a vacation. There is really no place like home. I miss my kids. I miss my mom's cooking. I miss ketchup (apparently, they are not a fan. And I keep forgetting that I'm not in the States). I miss chili sauce. I miss kai fan. I miss chow kuay teow. Ok, I am salivating just thinking about all those yummy food I'll be downning when I get home.

Funny how I am not alone. Those 'jokers' with whom we went out with last night, are missing our home too...LOL. They wowed to go back to M'sia when they get the chance. Obviously, a big hint to their boss last night...hahahha

I'm glad I decided to come. I was this close to not coming. But, I'm glad I made the trip. It was rejuvenating and relaxing. I rested, ate, enjoyed. It was everything I had hoped for and more. Of course, I didn't expect to be watching Bree (Desperate Housewives) speak in Swiss-German *rolls eyes*.

We plan on bringing the kids the next time.. if we decide to visit and when our finances permits us to. Because no matter how difficult it is traveling with them, its no fun without them. Honestly.

Alright, I am early posting today. We are off for the weekend. I'm not sure when I'd get the chance to post again. Hopefully soon, when I get settled down back home. So, in the meantime, you guys, have a good weekend. Speak with you soon. bye...

Missing the babes

Last night, we were treated to a bbq dinner at hubby's colleague's house. His new house in fact. Built on a piece of land owned by the family out in the country about 20 minutes from where we are staying currently. The house is so new, I could still smell the paint, the raw cement and the freshness of the lawn.

It was/is beautiful. Contemporary but beautiful. Equipped with the latest plasma and all. Plus, they even have a dish washing machine!! OK, now I sound like some country-pumpkin...I mean, its not the most common household appliance to have back home I supposed. So, I got a little excited and kept wondering how nice it would be, if I have one. Since maids aren't very common here, I guess, they need all the help they can get. Really, they do. The house is so huge, with a basement and all, it'll take me ages to clean let alone wash and I just had to ask : who does all the cleaning? The husband quickly pointed to the wife *rolls eyes*. How typical eh? But you know, if I were her, I'd run away. Seriously!

I like where they live, the house that they live in. But, nothing compared to their 2 adorable children. Now I really wished I had brought Ash along. She would have gotten famously along with their eldest who, by the way, is the same age as her. And it doesn't even matter if neither could speak English, because knowing kids, they'll get along with whoever and whatever.

Speaking of Ash - I miss her. She cried this morning when we spoke to her. Poor girl. Felt bad for leaving her behind. Seeing her upset and not wanting to upset her further, we went offline quickly. I just hope she's ok now.





The food was delish even though it wasn't a typical Swiss dinner. Something tells me that with all the munching I've been doing, I gotta start a detox regime when I get home. In fact, I could start with a colon cleanse review.

I didn't take many photos last night. Don't know why. Shy. Plus, I didn't know how they'd feel having their photos taken like, so.many.times because I am not a pro. One take is usually not enough for me. Besides, this is the first time we've met so you know, I spent time getting to know the family rather than being this crazy-photo-snapping-woman...hehehe..

However, I might get the chance to be that crazy-photo-snapping woman tonight. We're going for dinner again with hubby's colleagues and possibly drinks after. That should be fun again..hopefully...

Rest day

Yup, today is a rest day. But only for me, hubby is at work.

I woke up early today. Made breakfast and logged on to the computer so I could talk to my girls. We managed to speak with Ash. Well, not exactly speak with her cos she was laughing and looking at the computer screen. The only time she said something was to say bye and blew us flying kisses. I take it as she is fine with us being away. A good thing if you ask me hehehe...

I mentioned that hubby is here on training. So, he was given an apartment, a small studio apartment right next to his office. Which is why I could make breakfast and have a decent bowl of maggie noodles.

So far, I've only been here for a total of 3 and a half days. And frankly, I wouldn't mind living here seriously. But, the language is a problem. Everything, and I mean, everything is in Swiss-German. You don't even get an English channel on tv (I'm not sure about paid tv though - they might have it). The only one in English is CNN. Good thing also, otherwise, I wouldn't have known about what happened to Indonesia.

My trip here is actually a last minute thingy. We never planned what we were going to do here. So, we decided to let the weather dictate our sight-seeing instead. It was forecasted to have rain in most parts of Swiss, hubby suggested we head down south..to Lugano. A town, bordering Italy. Hence, you'd find many Italian influences, right down to the language.

We had superb weather in Lugano. Some al fresco dining. There were shops too, but they were retail. Simply too expensive for me. We hung around the city and the lake close by to the train station. Walked around, we didn't venture out too far though.

In the evening, on our way home, we went to big city Luzern. We arrived just in time for the Blue Balls festival - an open air jazz festival. It was pretty cool. The first guy who got up to sing was this jock from the US. Now, I can't remember his name but you'll see him in my photos.

We hung around for about an hour plus before taking the train back home. "Home" isn't close by, at least an hour train ride. Besides, dark clouds were looking. So we thought we'd come back another day. It's a nice city. A very artsy city if you ask me. I can't tell you much, cos we didn't explore much. Hopefully, I'd get another chance to do just that.

Alright, on with the photos. I'm only about half-way done. More on flickr as usual.

Grüezi

So, I am here, on my holiday destination - Switzerland. The weather forecast is...heheh...No, I don't want to sound like a weather-woman.

You may be wondering, what on earth am I doing there/here. Well, my hubby is on a 2 week biz trip. Actually, 'training' but "biz" sounds nicer doesn't it? hehhe...Anyway, hubby thought it would be a nice vacation for the both of us. Plus, my mom was able to take some time off from work to care for the kids. And so, well, here I am :-D

If you ask me, if I miss the kids. I think my hubby misses them more. I am just freaking enjoying the freedom...LOL...ok, don't judge me.

OK, this blog, for the next couple of days, will not be filled with mommy stories. Not that it had alot of (mommy stories) in the past but you know what I mean. There will be snippets of my trip and photos. I will process them as I go along. Not many but some because I know that once I am home, I won't have the time to do it. Plus, you get to see them 'real-time' instead of having to wait (if you want to that is).

Alright, I have to go soon. Here are some which were taken by my hubby. Because, I haven't taken any and he took my camera along with him when he got here first.

Shame on YOU

Eh, what am I still doing here...thought I said I was going off?? hehhe...

Technically, I am supposed to. However, I'm only actually leaving later this evening and since I have some time to spare. I mean, I've packed (read : close to 90%), the kids are with their grandma (read : I slept quite soundly last night) and the house is what it should be (read : there are still some lying here and there and I am waiting for hubby to get the job done when he comes back).

So, I thought I'd come by and tell you something. It could wait. Buuuuut decided not to because i. am.so-no-words! As a parent, we want to teach our kids the right stuff : be good, have manners, be polite, be humble, treat everyone the same (ie not to discriminate), etc...and you'd hope that when you put your kids to school, you expect that their teachers will do the same thing. OK, so maybe not the same thing but you know, as educators, they are supposed to instill virtues on children right. Especially children.

This is what my cousin's wife had to go through recently. This is what she wrote (on FB):

I recently looked up a temp job at a child education centre. Ironically, I was not rejected cos I lack teaching experience but get this! "Sorry we cannot hire u cos it will be hard for us to explain ur (physical) condition to the kids". For those who know me, yes, I make ppl uncomfortable but discrimination at the roots (educators) is the cause of the misperception of society for ppl like me! Shame on these ppl!

I just wanna add on to this. All my life, many people have not looked at me with some form of perception, whether it's in a negative or positive manner. It's not to say that I am not used to a certain degree of discrimination, it's just that the episode at the education centre really made me feel sad, not for myself, but for the way some pockets of society are still so close-minded. Perhaps the education centre was making a wise business decision because they might think that I may just scare away all the kids, but this is not the way to teach our children who may encounter people who are disadvantaged, different or disabled, whatever way you choose to describe the 'disability'.

In general, different people react to me differently. Some are curious and start asking questions about my condition. This is the most healthy approach I think. Some just clamp up and don't know how to react. I sometimes want to laugh at those who react in such a manner because the uncomfortable feeling they have is really their own doing. Some are graceful in accepting and they are prudent when interacting with me. These are ones I truly am grateful for, and wish that most people can learn from there. Some are outright mean by treating me like an alien. Don't worry, I don't bite, I just write.

All in all, I still have faith in most people. My loving family and friends are more than enough proof of this beautiful humane qualities. I just wish that more Malaysians would be more open minded about their perception of 'disabled' people. Afterall, we don't want our children to be treated like aliens or bugs. I believe in educating our children at an early age not to be afraid of people who are 'different', explain to them why they are who they are, tell them there's nothing to be afraid of. Underneath it all, we all are just the same human beings, made from the same flesh and blood.

How would you have felt after reading something like this?

Let me tell you, she is NOT disabled. Nope, she isn't. In fact, she is very smart. Definitely smarter than me lah. But, yes, she talks kinda funny, she moves her head from side to side sometimes when she's a little nervous. It's something that I am sure if she had obscene amount of money, with the advent of modern science these days, I am pretty certain whatever the condition she's having, it can be fixed.

Yeah, I don't know exactly what it is but you know, for as long as I've known her, she's just "Aggy". I've never questioned, no one questioned (maybe some nosey aunts). She is as normal as anyone can be and I am sure her own family and friends can vouch for that. I can.

The best part is, you know, as parents, its no surprise that we are already scratching our heads on how best to explain to our kids about urm, indifference (not sure if the word goes but you get what I mean). We are not experts at this kind of stuff but you know, we try our best. To have someone or an institution who are supposed to be the experts (educator mah), telling you that they are clueless as well...what do you make of it? A slap in the face. Why go to school eh? (hahah...homeschooling moms will jump for joy at this :-D).

Anyway, I am just....and to think, this is a private institution..not public..so go figure eh? Just amazing. Really.

OK, so again, I've gone on and on and I've gotta go to my uncle's clinic to get some pills for my ears. Gotta run. I'll talk to you later.

Bis spöter

This will be a quick one; I have loads to do.

There have been some interesting updates lately. Mostly due to the fact that I'll be off on a short trip (wish the Florida vacations were included) with my hubby who's on biz currently. It was actually a last minute decision thingy but yep, we'll be...just the 2 of us...no kids, no poopie diapers and no one asking for milk. LOL...My mom was kind enough to take over and care for the kids while we are away. Thanks Mom!

I may log on and load photos when I am there. "May" because I'm not certain about having internet access but if I do, rest assured you'll be hearing from me. Otherwise, I will just upload them when I get home.

So, you guys, have a great week. I will speak to you again soon.