Greeting for the Year 2012

Location: Chateau D'Oex, Switzerland

A New Routine...

We are ushered into a new routine because of jetlag and well...we are kinda appreciating it.

Kids have been waking at the wee hours of the morning. It has progressed from 3:30 am to 4 am to 6 am today. For the past few mornings, after getting the kids to change their own clothes and brush their teeth, we headed out into the morning for our jog [whilst the sky is still dark]. I hate to admit it and wished I were still in bed, but it has been most refreshing. Whilst we jog, the kids would be munching their muffins in their double pram. After a good jog, the kids would embark on their pavement chalk drawing whilst Dan would be doing his weights and I would do my stretching exercises. The cool morning air makes feel so blessed:) 

But by about 11- 12 pm, kids would gobble up their lunch and go into a deep deep sleep till 6-7 pm. Almost everytime, I would have to shake them out of their stupor, lest they continue to sleep till 12 am. It has been going on for the past week now....not sure if it would change. Perhaps so. But it has kinda made our life more healthy and fruitful.

Libera Live

This has got to be one of the highlights of our London leg. And we are glad we managed to catch them live. Firstly, Viola manage to buy tickets the day before she went into early labour. Secondly, the bus that the kids and I were on conveniently decided to terminate midway through our journey (this happens often enough in London). So I had to push kids towards Traflagar Square through the crowds and catch a connecting bus towards St George's Cathedral. Thankfully Darrell decided to come along inspite of arriving earlier on that day and jetlagging.

When we arrived, the queue was snaking as it was free seating. It was interesting to learn that some flew into London especially for the show and more so to learn that Libera is a non profit singing choir.

We are no ardent fans but we were swept away by the ethereal sounds filling the cathedral. A surreal experience. There were missed keys and flat notes ... I think they are the best boy group and in my opinion, they are better than Vienna boys.

Tom Cully [an excellent Libera Singer in his younger days]

Back to Some Routine

I am pretty determined to keep our family and myself fit and healthy with great recipes and a good dose of exercise.

It was back to our routine of healthy-organic-no butter muffins packed with dark chocolates and organic apples.

Jetlagging

By 12 noon Singapore time, we are all ready for our bedtime. And if we had our way, we would be in bed till 10 pm. But it would mean that the kids will b awake in the wee hours of the day. Really awake.

Plan A - Setting up our Christmas tree

To combat jetlag, we set up our Christmas tree the first night back at our home and even had time to wrap some presents.

Plan B - Out of Bed and Into the Pool

Yesterday, the kids were literally lifted out of their beds and ushered to the pool. Their soon grumpy faces turned to smiles as they hit the water.

Catching Up in London

We did much catching up in London. I think we met the children's godparents 3 nights in a row for dinner, and a couple of other times for tea and lunch. We also met Gail Chua for a meal or two and my cousin Gayle and her hubby Peter for dinner. And we drove up to Taunton to visit Auntie Ching.

London

London was a most welcoming homecoming for us. It was a time of catching up with family and friends and revisiting some of our favourite sites.

One of the reasons why we flew to London was to see the kiddos' god brother Elliot. The kids have been praying every night for Elliot and Godma Viola and so they were looking forward to seeing him.

Au Voir Paris, Welcome London!

Three days in Paris was a good enough stopover for us. Any longer I think our healths would seriously be in danger.

It was all aboard the Eurostar towards London.

Paris

This time, it was a real whirlwind experience of Parisian life. In just one day, we visited the Centre of Pompidou, enjoyed the buskers, walked past River Seine, headed to the Louvre and found ourselves at a Christmas Parisian night market that ran forever. Literally forever. It was a complete day and our legs were sore. Forgot to bring my phone out so photos are only caught on my camera.

The next day we got more Parisian (with our food). We walked about 8 km to revisit Luxembourg Gardens and popped by Polidor. After lunch, we were off to the Eiffel Tour and Galleries Lafayette and finally to Chartier, a French restaurant which is a must visit not for the quality of food but more for the experience. What an experience! A mischievous waiter recommended Veal with of course sounded delicious only to know when it arrived that it was the Head of Veal. So on Dan's plate was the tongue, the cheek and other indescribable stuff all intact. 

It was a great 3 days in Paris -  and my opinion of the place has not changed - a smoking and urined laden city which does mean desserts and pastries. Well, my mom in law has aptly described it as an "International Toilet".

Jardin Luxembourg

Polidor Restaurant

Polidor: Duck

Polidor: Foie Gras

Panthenon

This is as far as we got to the Eiffel

Chartier: The Infamous Paris Restaurnt

Yummy Desserts

Disgusting to Us: Delicacy to the French

Goodbye Switzerland, Bonjour Paris

Enroute to London, we decided to do a short stopover in Paris. It was a gd experience on the trains as we boarded the Golden pass again.

Sarah's Doodling while being bored on the train

Switzerland in a Few Words

Spectacular Scenery
Superb Systemization
Sky Rocket Prices
Speeding Monsters
Snowy Slopes


We will be back:))

A day at Le Gruyere

It was another full day as we headed to Le Gruyere and I must say it was a most enjoyable day.

First stop, it was to the Chocolate factory at Broc. An impressive historical tour about chocolate and the innovation of swiss that incorporated milk into chocolate. Sarah found the tour scary. Daddy Dan and mommy Joann were impressed at how automated Swiss systems are as we were ushered from one stage to another without the presence of a physical human guide.

The saving grace for Sarah has to be the final section of the tour that allowed visitors to eat all the chocolate you want at their display store. Sarah said, "this is a very special day!" I couldn't help myself laughing in the midst of stuffing my face with chocolates too.

Sanmy was busy eating and stuffing his pockets with chocolates to take back to Hannah and Josiah and Auntie Cc and his Shu Shus.

Second stop, we headed to the Le Gruyere Cheese factory. Very educational as we witnesses again how swiss automated systems work.

Finally, we found ourselves at Chateau de Gruyere. It was a beautiful castle set on a hill.


A full and a great day.

Up Glacier 3000

Chateau D is a picture of white in the months of Dec, Jan and Feb. But for Nov, it's still pretty much green. So we headed up to Glacier 3000 a thirty minute drive to see the snow.

A very thrilled Sarah and Samuel we witnessed. Sammy was especially delighted. We saw some spectacular sights that day.

More Walking at Chateau D

We are keeping things simple here in Chateau. Taking our walks, having our home cooked meals and literally chilling out. Tried more walking today and ended up at our fave cafe again. So much for the calories that we lost ;)

Chateau D Walking Trail

It was a simple morning of kids waking up at 6 am (it's getting better) and hitting the gym for a short while before embarking on our walking trail. Not a difficult trail but truly a picturesque one. Walks in Chateau are popular and I can just imagine that walking here in Spring must be one of the most breathtaking experience. Then it was a stopover at our fave cafe place where we cld rest our feet, warm our bodies over a hot cuppa and let the kids play in their 'ikea' corner.

A most delighted Sarah with a frost covered grass patch. 

Exploring Chateau D Oex

November in Chateau D is known to be rainy and muddy and thus it really is a quiet period. I must say, the weather has been extraordinarily great (according to a mommy I met at a playground). And the kids are having a great time. Sarah wants to touch all the frost and Samuel wants to see the cows. Train rides n bus rides offer great views of the mountains. Today we explored the neighborhood and had our cheese fondue unexpectedly as we headed to a cheese factory that was closed in winter. But that simple bus ride up the spectacular mountains was most refreshing. That bus operated like a school bus picking up kids along the way to their school in the mountains. I would love to send Sarah n Sammy there. Kinda like one that Charlotte Mason probably have love to teach in. Sarah was very intrigued at the school kids and I think Sammy our cheese lover had the best time of all at our fondue stopover.

We Are On our Rail Adventure

I am writing this in our dining room at a self catering apartment at Chateau D'Oex overlooking a stream and the mountains. Its pretty surreal thinking that just a day ago, we were at tropical Singapore. Only thing is its 6:34 am, and our two curious George's have been up at 5 am and running about non stop. I wouldn't mind only to think that they would knock out when we ate really exploring the area.

On that note, I must say that Emirates is great. Near empty flight to Geneva and they took a beautiful Polaroid for Sarah and me. I am easily impressed.

There's wireless here so I think I will blog as I go.

Our Extended Bible Study Fellowship

It was fun hosting the new friends I made in my BSF. I am thankful to meet a new bunch of friends of different ages from different walks of life and from different churches.

Blessed Birthday to our best Daddy

Daddy Daniel's Birthday Celebration

We headed to a well reviewed French Restaurant for Daddy Daniel birthday dinner. It was Darrell's treat :)

Enjoying the Neighbourhood

Finally, I upgraded my iPhone. Looking forward to better pics n quicker blogging. Here is our family enjoying the Neighbourhood on a lazy morning

Our Little Sammy Has Been Asking

When he was asked to wash his oily hands after manhandling his food.
Sammy: "Mommy, why soap can take away oil?"

Just before he went to sleep
Sammy:"Mommy, why I see red things when I close my eyes?"

When we are reading about the human body,

Sammy: "Mommy, why do we need muscles?"

Talking to Auntie Rubi,

Sammy: "Auntie Rubi, why are you brown?"

On our night walks

Sammy: "Can we observe the moon today?"

Yup, that's our queer genius in the making:)

Owl Updates and an Owl Party? Owl-some!

Our owl [we have identified that it is the Asian Barred Owl] has been regularly spotted at its usual place. Just before Daddy Daniel left for Germany, we took our family night walk much to Sarah's fright. With her ears tightly cupped, we wheeled to the the usual spot to admire our owl. True enough, it was there and we managed to come right up close. And guess who had the best view? Haha...our dear Sarah, seated at the bottom half of our Phil and Teds. It was an awesome moment for everyone. We saw it point blank. This time, even Sarah was awed. It was really cool.

Just yesterday, we went on an owl hunt with Jan and Jojo and Rubi. Not only was it found in its usual spot, we heard the owl call and it was unlike anything we had imagined. It was not hoo hoo...but it was like a frog croaking. Haha...I really wonder the many animals we missed thinking that we heard a cricket or a toad while it is actually some other creature. It was really cool.

So cool...I think I will hold a simple owl party sometime next week for the kiddos before ending it with our owl hunt. Found some cool ideas on the web...

Some fun owl smores snacks [I have a mind to adapt this to my healthy banana blueberry muffin, spread it with a thick layer of nutella and top it up with marshmallow eyes]

Owl crafts are aplenty

Read an owl bedtime story

And of course, give the kids some great owl vocabulary and they wouldn't even know what hit them.