Oh didn't you know

There's a reason for my silence......................

 We are delighted to announce that we soon, are welcoming our newest addition to the family this September.

So it's official that S is going to be a sister!

Happy V-day

We don't usually celebrate Valentine's day with a bang. It usually is a quiet affair but there is always flowers.

Every year on this day I get beautiful flowers from my darling husband. He's a sweetheart.

I hope you had a lovely V-day this year, celebrated with your near and dear. xx

Busy bees

I thought I’d better checked in and give a bit of an update.  But firstly, OMG it’s already February! Where did January go?

But having said that though, I’m glad January has come and gone. There were a lot of activities happened in the first month of this year.  To name a few, we have finally obtained our Australian citizenship and are now officially Australian.  I have already been in my new job for two weeks now and there was a few adjustment needed due to that, mainly trying to establish a new routine.  

It has been quite overwhelming on my first week at the job, trying to get up to speed and adjusting to a whole lot of new things: new people, new boss, new environment can somewhat be stressful.  Now that I’m half-way settled in my new job, I can say that I am feeling much better. My new workmates are nice, or seem nice anyway so that’s a good thing.

I’ve also just joined a gym near my office and that’s great because I can still keep up with my fitness, which is my top priority this year for very good reason.

So that pretty much sums up my first month of the year and you can clearly see I’ve been keeping busy. Already, I’m longing for a holiday! We actually do have a planned mini holiday in Margaret River in April over the Easter weekend– should be fun! 

Weekends are made of these...

I got to say, summer is starting to grow on me. Maybe its because we are having mild one this year compared to past years. There were one or two odd days of over 40C heat but it was not as bad as I remembered it to be. Maybe because, we now have ceiling fans installed in all our rooms, so night times are so much more pleasant.

We took Miss Three with us on our coffee run at the boat harbour and we ordered a babycino for her.  It was free anyway but she wasn't too keen on that.  She's the only kid I know that hates babycino. 

But German cheese sausages on a stick, she loves. She had the whole stick to herself, munching away as she stroll along the board walk barefoot, just like how the pros do it.

Then we ended up at the paddling beach. We came unprepared, but never the mind with this little lady. Knickers work just fine!

Loves it.. like a duck to water..

The life...

New year, new beginnings

Wow, its 2015. wow.

I still can't believe that we are already in a new year.  2014 really went by so quickly. The month of December was a frantic one. I was mainly busy with work and festive holiday shennanigans that I pretty much had no time for anything else to be honest. It has always been the busiest month of the year. My mother arrived on the first weekend in December to spend Christmas and some part of January with us. She's still here but is due to fly back home next weekend. I think Miss Three is going to find it very very hard when her grandmother goes home as she's grown very close to her during this time.

We had a lovely Christmas break. It was two weeks of unadulterated bliss combination of festivities and family time. It was lovely. We spent a lot of time at the beach and I have finally convinced the hubby that going to the beach is awesome. I am a bit of a beach bum and he has finally slowly come around of it. In fact, he said to me the other day that he is starting to love going to the beach! How could you not? We have beautiful beaches in Perth and the water is simply divine to swim in!

We've also hit the swimming pool quite as you do in Summer. We took Miss Three to the zoo too. We caught up with a few friends and I managed to read two books cover to cover. We visited our butcher and cranked up the barbie a lot during the holiday so have been feasting on plenty of good food. And due to that, I have shamelessly put on 1 kg!

2014 has been a good year for us, a year of many things but I believe 2015 is going to be bigger and better with lots of unexpected changes and big significant milestones.  For a start, the month of January is a big one for me, mainly a few things such as, starting a new job and becoming an Australian citizen. I'm starting a new role with the Australia Public Service and I am so grateful that I managed to score this job just before Christmas holiday. Although I am extremely sad to leave my current one as I love the people I work for as they are like family to me but I am looking forward to this new change. I just hope my new boss and colleagues are just as nice!

I will be swearing in and pledging my 'allegiance' to Australia at the end on January on Australia Day. That, I think would be a one to remember because it's a big deal for me as it marks the day I become an Australian citizen, a major milestone. So as you can  see, the first month of the new year already has a lot in store for me.

Anyhoo, I  hope that 2015 is going to be a great and adventurous year for you, filled with much love and happiness. Be safe, stay happy and all the very best for 2015!

Christmas morning

Christmas eve dinner 

Christmas day shennanigans 

Zoo trip

Much love,

Becoming an Aussie

That time of the year has come round again! Where did the time go? Am I the only one who feels as though that we just celebrated Christmas and ring the new year recently? It felt like it was only a few weeks ago.

Christmas is coming and as you know it, December is a busy month of festivities.  Thankfully, my mum is arriving on the first weekend of December and she would be of great help to us during this time.

We don't normally have babysitter at all but the month of December is the only time we need someone to look after Miss Three as both hubby and I have a calendar jam-packed of work social events and it would be very handy to have someone looking after Miss Three.  This year, we have mum! Yay! Someone we absolutely trust and Miss Three absolutely adores my mum. We also get to spend Christmas together so double win.

I also have another awesome news to share on here.  I am happy to announce that my application for becoming an Australian citizen has been approved and granted! So technically, I am an Australian now but I need to be sworn in before officially becoming one.  So at the moment I'm waiting for a letter from my local council to tell me when to go for my ceremony and once I've done that, that is it. I can proudly say to people that I am an Aussie!

So what does that mean for my Singapore citizenship? Well, it means that I will no longer be one as Singapore does not allow dual citizenship. I will renounce my Singapore citizenship. A lot of people have asked me if I would regret giving up my Singapore citizenship and if it was a hard decision to make. To be honest with you, the answer would be no and no.

I am grateful for being born and raised up in Singapore and I've had many fond memories of growing up there. My family still lives there and so do my best friends. Apart from them, and obviously, the cheap delicious food, there is nothing else that would want me to move back and live there. I certainly do not want to raise my children in Singapore, not that I have anything against it but if you compared to the lifestyle we have here in Australia or New Zealand for that matter, it is a dead no-brainer. It all boils down to personal choice of lifestyle, I guess.

I love Australia, and I love the way of life here.  For the 7 years that I have lived in Australia, it has become my home. I have established a great life here and this is where I want to bring up my children or even New Zealand for that matter because New Zealand holds a special place in my heart.

Hubby and I have set long term plans as well and that we hope that one day, perhaps a few years down the road, we would be able to move back to New Zealand. Ideally, we would have loved to go back now, but given our circumstances, we might not be able to do so. I would have loved Miss Three to grow up having her grandparents, aunties and cousins around but it is what it is. Hopefully we could make that happen in a few years.

The hubby and Miss Three have also applied for Australian citizenship however, they don't really need to as they are Kiwis and they have privileges and more rights to live in Australia than I do. They are only doing so for my sake as it  feels much nicer to become citizens as a whole family. They both still get to keep their NZ citizenship so it's a win-win situation for them.

By becoming an Aussie now, it would be much easier next time to become a NZ citizen for me as opposed to being a Singaporean you know. It's all about forward planning.

So yeah, I am actually pretty stoked as it is a big deal to me. To be able to proudly say that I am the citizen of the country I am living in it is BIG deal. HUGE.  I feel like I actually belong somewhere! I am no longer sitting on the fence and feeling like I'm neither here nor there. I can actually vote now!

Having said that though, I am still going to be supporting the All Blacks!! There's no question about that!! All Blacks forever!