My 2010

The year that I turned 30 year old! I am determined I shall appreciate my life more and make it a more meaningful one!


*Beware, it’s a super long-winded post ahead…
Jan 2010: We visited Lama Temple （雍和宫）in Beijing on 1st January, an eye-opener for us as the temple was super crowded with people praying for a good year ahead. A very cold winter and we had so much fun with snow! Shifting to our new house at Beijing, Oceanwide International Apartment 泛海国际。A bigger apartment of 200m2 for us, love it to bits! Bye bye Palm Springs!

Some unhappiness between me and my ayi, Xiao Chen. We decided to change another helper. Madness for me as we just shifted house and Chinese New Year was near. Did I mentioned An An loves to crawl on butt?! This funny boy! :p

Feb 2010: Craziness continued. What made it worse was that Zq was sick and need to hospitalized to be on drip, hubby was outstation and couldn’t rush back on time, I had no choice but to leave An An at home with a temporary ayi for a long 8 hours! And this poor boy decided to be on hunger-strike and ate/ drank nothing at all during this period. Luckily Zq’s teacher (Yuan Yuan laoshi) came and helped out at hospital, with her accompanied Zq, I was rest assured and back home to feed my lil boy. I was so helpess and torn-apart then. I weeped uncontrollably when I hugged my boys to sleep on that fateful night. Nothing matter more than their health. One-man show indeed wore me out, but something I looked forward had realized, my parent’s arrival to celebrate Chinese New Year with us. Hurray!!! We went to 庙会，Forbidden City and some other places. All the makan, shopping and bonding with grandsons, I certainly hope they enjoyed their coldest Chinese New Year here.

March 2010: We were very lucky to have our new ayi, Meng ayi. She was great and my boys adore her. We celebrated Dear’s 33 year old birthday, Zq and me baked some birthday cookies for him and Zq decided to give papa a big present that was his 1st poo in potty! Haa.

April 2010: 1st April is not April Fool for us, it’s Full of Presents day for us! Dear back from his 1 day Hong Kong business trip and got me a Prada wallet, a Vtech lappy for Zq and a walker for An An. We love papa so much! Muacks! Weather turned warmer means more outing for us. 天坛，香山，horse-riding, boating, etc. And Zq’s school celebrated Earth Day by inviting families to plant trees in a park, it was unforgettable experience. It’s a very happy month for me!

May 2010: Celebrated Mother’s Day at Zq’s class with all the little ones and their mummies. It was a lovely celebration; kids sang songs, presented flowers, cards and tea for their mothers. We back to Singapore to celebrate An An’s 1st birthday! Yeah! My little teddy bear turned one! We had a simple lunch & celebration at Grand Plaza Parkroyal, Haixiang restaurant. We had so much fun back home, Dear and me had a wonderful feasting time and the boys had a lovely bonding time with grandparents, relatives and their little friends. We stayed at Festive Hotel (Sentosa) for a night, enjoyed the beach, swimming and riding luge. We definitely want to visit again! And Zq was successfully off-diaper for daytime! Well done boy 

June 2010: I was officially 30 year old. And we made it to the Great Wall! With 2 young kids on tow, it was definitely challenging and tiring, plus the weather was hot and sun was super glaring. But it was all worthy, Zq could still remember he went to 爬长城 till date! Zq had his 1st bicycle and he could cycle well on his 1st attempt (with aided wheels of course :p)

July 2010: An An walked unassisted at 13.5 month old! Clap clap! Zq’s one month summer school holiday started. More places we visited, 前门，日坛，布拉格农场， Blue Zoo etc. It’s a month of Sun & Fun！

Aug 2010: Zq’s summer holiday started and it means more chaotic at home. Never seriously plan activities for him, just lots of art & crafts, jiao-zi making with ayi, picnic & boating at 玉渊潭, 四德公园. We made some Singapore flags on National Day and watched the NDP on CNAI! Count on me Singapore!

Sep 2010: Zq was promoted to Primary Class 1 wef 13th September. We had Mid-Autumn celebration at his school; he was reluctant to perform and was extremely stage-fright. I hope he will improve over time and willing to be under the limelight soon. More outings to parks for kite-flying, and I found my favourite park in Beijing, 地坛公园。

Oct 2010: My heroine’s arrival at Beijing! My mama traveled to Beijing all by herself, her 1st time taking flight alone and we are so proud of her. We spent the happiest 2 weeks here, shopping and sight-seeing. Thanks Dear for taking care the boys while I can shop with ease  We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary and Zq’s 3rd birthday on 10th. I baked a fondant cake with theme of Toy Story 3. I was so proud of myself and Zq loved it so much!

Nov 2010: Our 1st family oversea vacation to Jeju (Korea). It was a lovely holiday for all of us. I would never forget the experience, just the 4 of us, exploring a totally different place with unfamiliar language, it was just so exciting. We enjoyed ourselves and the boys had been very cooperative throughout the trip, they sure deserved more holiday! And we want to make it a yearly event for us. Autumn was here, leaves turned yellow and leaving the trees bald. We celebrated Thanksgiving at Zq’s school, and An An had his virgin ride on pony!

Dec 2010: The winter is so cold, and it’s -11 degree when I am penning down my post. An An attended his 1st class at Music Together, he enjoyed it and we noticed he’s really musically inclined! Cooking of 汤圆 to celebrate 冬至。We did lots of art & craft relating Christmas. Zq and me baked some Christmas muffins for his teachers and classmates. It’s a month of celebration! And as the year ending very soon, our stay at Beijing is nearing end as well. Opportunities are coming in from Singapore, Hong Kong and Abu dhabi, but till date, we yet to make our decision for our next move. I hope we will make the best decision for the family. Whatever decision it is, 2011 will be a very challenging year for us because of the move again. I hope I can have all the strength to settle down the boys well in the new environment.

In overall, 2010 is a happy and good year for me, as the boys are growing well and strong, learning things at an amazing rate. Zq is very interested in learning Chinese words now and An An able to speak in short phrases and shows great interest in music. My parents are generally in good health and my sisters are leading their blissful life. And I am a contented mother & wife of my doting hubby. What more can I ask for!

Adious Beijing & 2010!