Has it been THAT long?

I'm trying to revive my blog but nothing on Blogspot looks familiar any more.

Is it already the end of the year??!

So now that the girls are finally aware that it's NOT OK to pull leaves off a tree, I was actually planning on finally starting the nice family tradition of setting up a Christmas tree (from IKEA), and wrapping gifts (wrappers also most likely from IKEA), etc...

And what do you know, the Japanese quarantine folks find a tiny bug in one of the hundreds (thousands?) of trees that IKEA has imported and banned ALL of them from being sold to the Japanese public. So IKEA-J sourced trees from elsewhere that met the requirement of the Japanese customs but made it very clear that they would now be in limited supply. It was sold out in a couple of days after they went on sale at the later date.

Anyone knows from where else we can get a live tree in Japan? We have no room to store those plastic or nice blue fiber optic ones.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Healthy-o

I'm staring indecisively at this huge package that arrived yesterday. It contains what's touted as the healthy alternative to the microwave oven (actually it's supposed to cook healthier than conventional cooking) but WHERE IN OUR RAT HOLE kitchen am I supposed to put it???

For starters, it is larger than most microwave ovens. Secondly there is some pretty demanding space requirements, i.e. no walls and such within 5-10cm of its periphery (maybe because while cooking some of the steam it uses is emitted?).

So our bright red HEALSIO continues to remain in its cardboard box.
It wouldn't be for too long though, because the box is pretty massive too, and is taking up precious apartment space. Also the girls have taken a love for jumping on it. I wonder whether the warranty covers product damage even before it's taken out of its box.

They grow up quick!

Here are a few photos of the girls taken on our last week or so in KL, with compliments from Uncle Steve.  Our own more recent photos are still stuck in the camera, but rest assure they'll be posted soon!

Girls love all things that sparkle

The girls dance and play hide-and-seek at Starhill KL (this photo was taken somewhere between Starhill and JW Marriott KL) after some dim sum brunch.

 Dinner time! 

The girls at our regular and favorite dinner hangout, Yau Tuck Teng... or is it Mo Tuck Teng... can't remember.  So much for doing some PR for them.  Anyway, it's at the 2nd level of a corner coffee shop right across Secret Recipe at Taman Tun Dr Ismail.  And the food is fantastic!

See you again soon, KL! 

With suspicious-looking red-haired guy at the KL International Airport when it was time to say goodbye to our family in Malaysia.  We'll be BACK!

Sorry

I've been so slow to update the blog since returning to Japan.  We're still trying to settle down, and that involves getting a larger harddisk!  I've got so many photos to share, but no where to download them to.  From where can I get a 1TB laptop??

Actually, even that will max out in a couple of years.

Back in sushi land

And of course the first meal we got right after we landed was airport sushi!

We've been back for 3 weeks now and it's still difficult to say that we're fully settled down.  More specifically, the girls are still not back to their regular sleeping routine yet, and our apartment still looks part warehouse part toy factory.

The kindergartens within the vicinity are full with long waiting lists (i.e. getting premier tickets to watch that Star Trek movie would be heaps easier) that the city hall officials gave us no hope of her starting kindy this academic year.  We're considering the international kindy option.  Yes, it'll cost a bomb but we think we should be able to manage if she doesn't go full time.

Our current apartment faces the sea.  It's a bit like living on a beach resort except that it's also not.  That's because right on the other end of the coast line is the city of Chiba and at night, it glows with lights!  It's quite hard to believe that this will be our home for at least the next few months.  Is it too much of a good thing?  In a few months, we shall see!

Little M is down with impetigo, the poor thing.  It doesn't help that she also caught a cold.  Bigger M got impetigo at about the same time two years ago so she's immuned... one less thing to worry about.  The scabs are finally healing and falling off, and so is the discomfort.

Nihon ryouri

I love our meal times here in Malaysia!  That's when I get to think through the many options we have and come up with something that, at that moment, the stomach feels is superior above the rest.  Nasi lemak!  Penang laksa!  Char kuay teow!

But there was this one day when tummy shouted "Japanese!"  Sure, it's a just a couple of weeks more before we can get our hands on seriously authentic Japanese food, but it's quite hard to resist when the kids also join in with your tummy to chant, "udon! udon! udon!"

So we gave in and settled for a pretty decent Japanese lunch here.  The best part: it satisfied our year-long craving and yet didn't change our desire for some seriously authentic Japanese food when we return to Japan!

The restaurant: Sushi Zanmai, 1Utama, Bandar Utama.

Hanging out in PJ

Despite being jet-lagged and sick more than half the time we've been here, we've still thankfully managed to attend parties, hang out with friends, and eat out a fair bit. I think we've had more social activities here this month than a whole year combined in Japan. And it's no wonder that Minori is asking over and over whether we can "ask daddy to come to Malaysia... I don't want to go back to Japan!"

It's an irony. We've heard over and over that the country is unsafe, we hear about all kinds of crimes on a daily basis, well-meaning friends and family tell us that it's "better for the children to be in Japan" ... and yet the people here seem happier. Most people whom we have met, whether friends or just people we bump into in the same apartment elevator or the makcik who comes to clean my mom's apartment once a week have been so friendly and nice, and the girls have picked up on the good vibes.

Could it be that the lack of security causes the people here to take it less for granted and appreciate more the simpler things in life?

Trading outdoor walks and playing in parks with indoor play in PJ, which is cooler (temperature-wise!) and a wee bit safer.

Back!

I realize our blog is going stale!  The last few weeks have been mad so much so that blogging, important as it is, hasn't exactly become a priority.

It's been weeks of packing, moving, battling jet-lag, getting sick, basically just living our crazy and hectic lives!  We're now in Malaysia, enjoying a few stormless days finally.  Minori is back in the same Malaysian kindergarten she went to last year for 2 weeks.  She's been bugging me about sending her to kindergarten since the moment we touched down KLIA.  Who would imagine that this is the same girl who would cry her lungs out and then sob in her sleep at nursery a couple of years ago?!  English is the medium of communication but she picks up some Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin too.  The kind teachers are full of praise and encouragement for her.  She's so blessed to have this Malaysia kindergarten experience.

I bring Marisa to a playgroup once a week.  Although she didn't complain the first time around... this is my angel second daughter, remember?... she obviously was more comfortable at the second session.  I'm looking forward to our playgroup again tomorrow!

It's so nice to be able to live in familiarity after months (even years!) of being the blur one.  I can't say it's complete familiarity... year after year, PJ/KL becomes less familiar to me.  But meeting with good old friends and their children, and just being in a sea of familiar faces bring about a kind of comfort that can't be experienced anywhere else in the world, no matter how exotic the location.  The novelty wears off.

 Passing down our friendship!

Picture of M&M with K&K (Kayden & Katelyn), adorable children of my friends Adeline and Li Hsing.