I have moved!

I have finally packed up and moved to a new blog! Find me here www.aroadfrequentlytravelled.blogspot.com I know the URL is kind of long-winded but really couldn't think of anything else!

Bye bye meliathinks...

I have been riddled with guilt for not posting anything the last month or so...feel like i should put something down as the past month has been filled with so many going-ons! Have been meaning to start up a new blog to document the next stage of my life here in Singapore to keep friends in Sydney updated...but have been holding it off for the longest time...but i WILL get it done before peanut comes along. A quick update... We are back...adjusted...all thanks to both our parents who have made the transition back very seamless and pleasant! We still reminisce about Sydney alot...esp our cosy apartment back in Newington...and the leisurely brekkies we had on Saturday mornings... I am now officially 5 weeks away from my expected due date...my tummy protrudes so much, that looking at myself sideways still makes me gasp! Have also managed to engage the services of a very capable gynaecologist...and was convinced to engage a doula as well. (Must be wondering what a doula is...will explain more in the next post!) We have attended most of our antenatal classes...much wiser but don't know if it would translate to actual competence when peanut arrives. As you probably notice...we are still referring to baby Ho as peanut...so names for this baby boy is still up in the air...any ideas? Also cracking our brains for a suitable and meaningful chinese name. Personally...am feeling very excited and yet apprehensive about delivering and being a mum. Kind of hard to describe how i feel...but it is comforting to know that millions of mothers out there have been there and done that...and they survived! Feel like a lumbering elephant at times...can't bend down very efficiently to pick things up when i drop them...can't cut my toe nails without getting breathless from squashing peanut...need to ROLL out of bed each morning...have swollen fat feet when i walk too much...among many other physical discomforts...so i am quite ready to be un-pregnant again! Ok...this should be sufficient update till the new and improved blog is up...hopefully soon!!

Bye bye house

Am feeling extremely nostalgic and sentimental this morning...today is the last day i will be spending in 3/3-5 Blaxland Ave, Newington. This apartment has held so so many wonderful memories for us and it has been a wonderful refuge from life. Sigh...i think this sentimentalism has been over exaggerated by my raging pregnancy hormones!


Yup...that is pretty much what's left of our living room...that's our "sofa" and our dining table and coffee table!
Tonight we are moving into a service apartment in another suburb. And interestingly...this service apartment is the very same one we holed up in during our first week here in Sydney. Indeed we have come a full circle...finishing where we started...
Looking back at the past has made me realise how far God has taken us...still remember being extremely homesick and pouring my "lostness" through endless pages in my journal...feeling displaced in every sense of the word...and how things started to fall in place. Now we say goodbye again...
We had a lovely weekend snatching whatever time we had to meet up with friends for the last time and we even had an authentic steamboat reunion dinner at Chinese Whispers (a friend's mum's cafe). It is so hard to say goodbye to the people that God had brought into my life at the most crucial times...friendships that would have to take a different form now...sigh! Oh ya...Blessed lunar chinese new year to all!
This might be my last blog entry in Sydney...as i might not get to an internet access during the week...well the next time i won't be "lost-in-Sydney" anymore...maybe "blur-in-Singapore"?

A sign of the times

Guess what we did during Valentine's Day yesterday? Went to visit my gynae for one last time! Truely a sign of the times... Am glad to report that baby Ho seems to be growing well, in fact a bit quicker than scheduled, fingers crossed hopefully he won't be too huge! Thought i should capture a picture of the place just for remembrance sake..


After that we had a leisurely lunch at Cafe @ Johnston in Annandale. It felt extremely indulgent as it was a weekday and we were both flipping through magazines and newspapers without a care in the world having a leisurely lunch. It felt good...


Eugene decided to cook for the night...so we bought some ingredients and this was the result of it!



Not bad huh...we had prawns with capsicum and pinenut sauce with fettuccine! It was pretty good actually...
Valentine's Day, i know it has become very commercialised and over rated. I see that too, but i do see some value in V-day...after thinking about it...at least it causes people to sit down and think about appreciating their loved ones. I know everyday can be a V-day but how often do we actually sit and think about the one closest to us...and to say thank you? I guess i am just saying that it made me think about all that my dear husband has done for me and gave me an opportunity to say thank you...
As i thought further about what love really is and how it looks like...this is what i have concluded...
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16.
Indeed His love for us is so pure and deep...don't think i would be able to fully comprehend that but it does leave me much in awe and much much loved.

Getting acquainted with Reuben Sim

He is out! Yes...after watching him grow in his mummy's tummy for 9 months, he is finally out and Congratulations Salmon and Lianne...he is beautiful!
Went to visit them at the Royal Prince of Wales yesterday (first time in a hospital in Sydney!)...and mum and dad look surprisingly perky and well! No eye bags yet! Still remember the day when we met up in Balmain for lunch, and she glowed when she told me that she was with child! And it was amazing for me to see this little one in person...finally.
Seeing him...made me think alot about baby Ho...about the creation of life...about how one so small and "brand new" has a life of his own and his own personality. Made me wonder about how baby Ho would look like...what his likes and dislikes would be...what his personality and temperament would be like...what he would think of us...what goes through his brain... Indeed, the creation of life is nothing short of a miracle, another indication of His power.
Didn't get any pictures with the babe...he was trying to get to sleep and didn't want to disturb him in any way. Will try to sneak a picture in when we visit next week!

Where we started...

Our last morning brekkie at Vargabar @ Newtown...boo hoo. I still remember having breakfast with Eugene way back in 2003 when i came over to visit Sydney for the first time before we came over in 2004 for good. Fell in love with the place, the food and just the whole laid-back atmosphere. It was here that we discussed excitedly about how new and refreshing life was going to be for us when we moved here...how we were going to make things work here in Sydney...how we missed home already...whether we should rent in Chiswick...whined about why we were putting ourselves through so much torture by studying again...whether we should get a 2nd car...whether we should rent at Newington...how we want to start a family...whether we should stay in Sydney or journey home...indeed many important conversations have passed through here. And of cos, those that have came to visit, have remembered the place fondly too...and the food as well! Goodbye Vargabar...may you still be standing when we come back for a visit again...with our newest addition...

Dee Why (a late post!)

Thought i should just post this...to remind me why Sydney is indeed such a beautiful place to be. Last Saturday, we met Joe and Sin Min for brekkie at Dee Why Beach. First time there, and we had a lovely brunch at a squeezy little cafe called Seachange Cafe. It was such a characteristic Sydney-Saturday-cloudless day...coupled with good company. Memories are definitely made of these...

Empty nest

There is so much empty space at home now...not used to seeing the apartment so empty and it has made me feel very nostalgic too. The movers came last Friday, and watching them pack all our belongings into boxes reminded me of the time when we were packing to move over here. Seeing the apartment somewhat empty also brought back memories of our first night here in Newington, of how we were frantically unpacking all our stuff out of the cockroach infested cardboard boxes in the middle of the night!
Yesterday, somebody came to pick up our only 2 tables left...so the hall is really really empty now, have to eat sitting on our sofa!
We have one more week left here in Newington, the following week we will be moving into a service apartment, after which a whole new chapter of our lives will unfold in Singapore...
I thank God for such wonderful memories and such "growing" moments here in Sydney. We were contemplating of naming baby Ho, Sydney...no lah just joking!

Last fling at Paddington Markets

We decided to head down to the Paddington Markets for possibly one last time before we leave Sydney. Boo hoo...it was a lovely day spent. We managed to get some art work from the markets to remind us of the place...priceless!
It is finally sinking in...we are leaving in a month's time...and these are memories that we will always carry with us and refer to. The movers are coming this Friday, so we are somewhat frantically packing and digging out stuff for the movers to pack. Packing up my stuff have brought back memories of the time when i was packing to come over here...3 years flew by and now we are packing to go back. Life is such...full of changes and transition, but somehow we tend to be creatures of comfort and familiarity...so i guess change is always hard to deal with.
But i am excited to move back home, more in anticipation of little baby Ho that will come into our lives soon...Little dear, i can't wait to see you!