Melbourne 2013 - Day 2

We woke up to yet another glorious day!! I love it that our apartment is just across the road from Flagstaff Gardens and there is a big kiddy playground there!

• We went to Chinatown to a restaurant that we used to frequent for dim sum. Disappointingly, the food standard has dropped and nothing like before. The only highlight of that brunch was the performance (below) put up by little bun. He was actually singing at the top of his voice mimicking Princess Fiona in Shrek!

• Took a walk along Bourke Street and much of it has remained unchanged... I love the sound of the trams going by!

  

• Walked pass this building where some of my undergrad classes were conducted 15 long years ago. During the days when Mark was courting me, he used to wait for me at the entrance of the building after my classes and walk me back to the hostel! Truly miss those days..

• Against my protests, Mark insisted on getting a stroller from Target. He claims that we can use it for the duration of our stay there and we can choose to lug it back home or give it away. Not that it is expensive, but I know that it'd be a pointless purchase. For the record, we used it a grand total of TWO times. It ended up more of a hassle cos little bun refused to sit in it and I had to push an empty stroller around town amid curious stares from passersby. Duh!! Below photos were taken straight after we bought the stroller and were walking back to our apartment where the bun was worn out and promptly dozed off. **I discovered one thing about the stroller.. it doesn't come with power steering and suspension.**

• Later in the day, we caught up with friends for tea followed by a visit to their house and then dinner. Their little boy (CK) is 4 months younger than little bun but he's a hefty boy!! I love playing with little CK and his cries for "More!!" when he wants more food! 

Melbourne 2013 - Day 1

We are back from a most wonderful vacation. Suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms now that we are back to reality (**boohoo**).. Unbeknownst to me, I have taken over 500 photos during those 10 days (mostly of little bun since this is his very first holiday overseas). 

The next few posts will be a walk down memory lane on how we spent our time in our favorite city (after 10 years, Mark and I still love Melbourne as much as we did - the place, the food, the culture, the people, the parks and yes, even the erratic weather). 

• At the airport before our midnight flight to Melbourne.. trying HARD to let little bun run and tire him out so that he can hopefully sleep on the entire duration of the flight there. We failed miserably.. in the end, we were tired out but he was an Energizer bunny!!

• We were given priority to board early since we were travelling with an infant. Time for photos!! Glad that we survived the flight there and other than a 10 min meltdown after we had to keep the iPad (prior to take-off), little bun slept most of the way there. **Whew**

• Arrived in Melbourne to a glorious morning sky!! What a wonderful welcome! Blue skies - check. Cold weather - check. Woohooo.. WE ARE BACK!!!

• We couldn't check-in at the apartment until noon so we took a leisurely stroll to the nearby Queen Victoria market for breakfast. Curious little bun was looking around at the new environment and totally puzzled (and loving) the cold winter wind (it was REALLY windy the day we arrived.. told Mark he'd better hold on tight to our son lest he gets blown away!). 

• Mark's favorite doughnuts.. Price has doubled! 

• The apartment that'd be our 'home' for the next week, Oaks on WiIliams Street, is barely 1 month old and I couldn't be more please with it. It boasts a unblocked view of the Docklands and the location is perfect. The view from our balcony is to die for..

• Very, very tired bun after we checked-in.. 

•  Lovely night scene from our apartment's balcony!

Melbourne 2013

Only a few more hours to go and we will be heading off to the airport for our vacation!! It's been 2 years since my last real holiday, and 10 years since I last set foot in Australia. Looking forward to catch up with all my new and old friends, looking forward to the cold weather, looking forward to going to all the familiar places... but not looking forward to leaving my little den-den behind for 10 days. 

At the same time, I am praying very hard that little bun will be cooperative on the plane cos when I used to travel for business, the thing I hated most was to be seated near a cranky kid. Most likely Murphy's Law is going to kick in, and to punish me, little bun is most likely going to be a cranky bun on the plane **gulp**...

The yellow car has proven to be a favorite toy with the 2 brothers!! 

Little Bun #2 is 5 Months Old!!

Little bun #2, aka 'den-den' is 5 months old today!! 

This morning at 6 am, he successfully turned from his back onto his tummy all own his own! I found him on his tummy looking at me with a gleeful "Hey mommy, look! I did it all on my own!"-expression! Now what he needs to learn is figure out how to flop back onto his back because I had to rescue him when he started grunting and looking at me with pleading eyes. 

I am going to miss this little side-kick of mine when we go to Australia (in just a few days!!).. hmm... feeling kinda guilty for leaving him behind. 

Little bun went car shopping with daddy and he was very happy running around the showroom (it was late so there were no other customers around). I guess this is the beginning of their 'boys only time'. I expect there'd be a lot more such times in future, and very soon, they'd have another new member when little bun #2 is bigger. 

The loveliest sight to behold - my 2 sweet, sleeping buns!! It may be a tad too early to tell since little bun #2 is still so young, but their temperaments are really so different, and yet, I love them both just as much. My heart is just bursting with love for them.. 

Mark and I had a drink at a nice fancy place on the eve of my birthday with little bun in tow. Little bun was in a cheery mood and was busy entertaining himself in the new environment while we were just sitting back watching him and ensuring he does not get up to any mischief. Mark then asked me quietly between sips of his wine - "Do you realize there's a good chance he might not have been here today? Can you imagine how our life would be without him?".

Mark is right.. we were soooooo close to not having little bun (and little bun #2) in our lives. Life would've been vastly different then. Our house would still be spick and span and our bank accounts would have been a much 'healthier' condition than the state it is in now. I'd also have a lot more wardrobe space to store my clothes/ bags (the 2 buns have a rapidly growing wardrobe which I have to make space for by clearing out my stuff). We'd have all the time in the world for travelling, eating at fancy restaurants and catching up with friends. We'd also have been holding hands a lot more (now with the 2 boys in our lives, Mark is usually holding little bun while I am holding little bun #2, so there's hardly any chance for us to hold hands anymore). When we do go out, I have to trade in my lovely handbags for a huge diaper bag. Usually, when I step out of the house, my hair would still be wet and all over the place. 

These days, the only place we go to are our regular jaunts which we know are kid friendly and where the service staff know us.. We hardly venture to anywhere new anymore. We rarely meet up with friends or invite friends over to our place for dinner for a very long time (we used to host regular hot pots or BBQ sessions at home 'pre-buns'). We haven't been in a cinema for over 2 years (and counting), and our favorite movie at home now is Shrek. 

I wouldn't trade my current life for anything in the world. The mere thought of not having little bun in my life is enough to bring tears to my eyes. This little boy has patched up my broken heart and turned my life around. He is why I am here today. 

Recently I have been making him say 'I love you' to me before I leave for the office, and he says it in that cute, incomprehensible way of his that sounds more like 'arr-roof-ooo'. 

I love those mischievous expressions of his when he knows I am trying to take a photo (see below photos); the cute way he grabs onto my leg like a koala and asks me to carry him; the way he seeks for my hand and holds onto it when we are in the car; the funny way he sleeps at night (ass in the air); the way he wriggles his little fingers at me to ask for his favorite pillow just before he goes to sleep...  

This birthday, I am giving thanks for what I have in my life today, and especially to my Angels for watching over me. There's nothing more I can ask for with a loving husband and the 2 boys in my life. Miraculously, I have also achieved my personal goal of becoming a mother before I turn 36 years old.. in fact, I exceeded it by becoming a mother of 2!

Had a memorable birthday celebration with my boys... complete with fireworks no less!! Ok those fireworks happen to be part of the National Day preview which coincided with my birthday. Little bun enjoyed the fireworks a lot but little bun #2 is obviously too young to understand the commotion. Well, maybe we will do the same thing again next year.. he'd be 18 months old then, so probably be able to enjoy it a lot more.

Guess what has got his attention? Yup.. it's still Shrek. 

Another Saturday, another class. We are now halfway through term 3 and Mark and I have been in discussion if we should let little bun continue on with term 4 since he will be starting his Mon-Fri playgroup classes come January 2014 (**boohoohoo**... my baby is going to school!!!).

On one hand, we were thinking that we should just spend more of the precious weekends with him and little bun #2, or if we should let him continue on with the Saturday classes since he seems to be enjoying himself.

Decisions, decisions...

The dates for our Melbourne trip is finalized!! We will be there from the 16th to 24th of Aug.. much longer than I had originally planned for, but due to challenges with flight availability, we are staying longer than planned. Just as well cos it's been a decade since we have left Melbourne (cannot believe it is 10 long years already!!), and after this trip, I really don't know when we will be going back again next. Another 10 years perhaps?

Counting down and looking forward to catching up with friends.. oh and the cold weather!

Little bun having fun with his new toy bought for him by his daddy (once again, behind mummy's back). I can't wait for little bun to be old enough to tell his daddy that he wants a new and bigger house.