A new beginning - Thanksgiving Day 2013

After much pondering, I decided to stop over thinking and just start doing, picking up the pieces and step out again. Not to say I have not been taking many first steps, but to get myself on electronic blueprint again just wasn't really something I would readily jump at, at the least, I do not have time like I used to. 

So I chose Thanksgiving Day as D day to start because really over the past 2 years of promoting to Motherhood, there has been much to be thankful for. In fact, life has given us much to be thankful for. 

Firstly, we are thankful that God answered our prayer and sent us to the States, throwing me totally out of my comfort zone and forced me into a life I never dreamt of having, but never did regret having. Yes, the adventure never really ended when we returned in Oct 2011. Along the way, much surprises came along. 

Firstly, I would like to thank all that make this journey a little easier.  

To my mum, this at the expense of her own life being endangered by my very birth. 
To my dad, for always being that listening ear, that encourager, giving me ample reminder to face life squarely and never give up or give in when things get tough. It is also through him that I come to learn that one's environment is not the only factor that shape one's life, he grew up in a Casino, he never gamble. 
To my husband, who in his very well intended way, clumsily put his boys' lives in danger when they were still in my tummy. First by driving off when one of my leg was still in the car, causing me massive bleeding and thought of miscarriage in our 1st trimester. Then in attempting to make sure that I did not get stretch mark, while adjusting himself to a more comfortable position, unconsciously leaned his entire weight on me with his hands on my tummy at the boys' 5 month, pushing the babies to one size, rushing us back to the gynae the next morning, to ensure the boys were not hurt. Our gynae just couldn't help laughing, though knowing we are worried. And of all the support as a new dad, he has given to me and the family.
To my father in law, for all the ferrying the boys, myself to and fro KKH. 
To my mother in law, for also doing her part in helping us look after the boys.
To my uncles and aunties, for all their help in fetching Yiyi to school and babysitting on weekends when we were burnt out from the boys hospital stay. 
To Nellie who forced her way into our lives to learn how to care for the boys so she can throw us out of the house and support when we need babysitting help at home or in church. 
To all our friends or acquaintances for your lovely comments from time to time giving us the strength to carry on. 

To God - For littering our lives with so much adventure. 

So stay tuned... I promise to be as candid as I can. 

And I thought the adventure was over...

About this time last year, I have returned from States and settled back into worklife, returning to work for the same boss before leaving. It seems like life back home was on pause. I could recall many work stuff, I typed in the year as 2008, the year I left work life and pursued the life of a homemaker.

I thought for most bit, the adventure was over but little did I know more is on its way. We were adapting to life back home, reconnecting with friends, missing the great cool weather... enjoying our hawker fare and not having to work out mentally how much tip to give. We were talking about couplehood, living for the rest of our lives as a couple without kids. We were talking about moving to a smaller apartment, getting a un-family friendly cars... in fact, we won't just talking, we were already looking. I came to like the life we had in the States, small 1 bedroom apartment with min stuff, only necessities and some core interests...min maintenance.

Then I got pregnant...and that wasn't all. We have twins. They are a little more than 3 months now, definitely starting to present their own characters, at least it appears to be in the making. They are a bundle of joy for sure, but they do require work and help. Bye bye to our comfortable couplehood.

And yes, we are looking to move too, just not to a smaller place, but perhaps even a larger place for the boys to have space to run around. Then there is also school which I need to start working on for Yi, because of his special needs. Then there is the part about making sure they both get sufficient attention and love from us, which can get especially hard when one requires more...

Life is truly an adventure and I thank God that though we have no idea how we will do this and what life lies ahead of us and how our actions will impact our boys' lives, I am thankful we have a God we can call upon and rely on. We have come so far. We thank especially our mothers for all that they have put in to make this easy for us. And above all, we thank God for blessing us with our mothers.

To God be the Glory.

Disney World Marathon 2010

This is a clip of a fellow runner Lee Hoedl who also ran the Disney World Marathon 2010 on 10 Jan. The other person who ran, of course is my beloved hubby.

But my hubby didn't have a video cam with him, so this is the best clip to show what a wonderful course he ran. Never see anyone so happy running a marathon especially without all the training he needed, and starting at -5 degree celcius.

Finally, my real Xmas tree

As some of you might remember, I have always wanted a real Xmas tree, but last year we only managed to get a Rosemary plant instead as we couldn't get the stand for the tree, hence couldn't buy one. Cute?

This year, we finally got our first tree. It is a small tree, (haha, shorter than me) but it is a real tree. And I was wondering how to decorate it without spending much (since US is not exactly our home and don't want to accumulate waste).

So this is what we did.

Some close up

And instead of a star, we have

Yosemite National Park - half dome

My Name is Ram

My love for ads continue. Have been looking for this ad on YouTube for some time now. So glad I have found it.
With such material, I think they are on the right track to getting back some confidence.


Yup, I know they have a long way, but everything comes with one step. Important thing is to stay the course.

Culture Shock

Having been here for almost a month now, I still wonder why I struggled so much to settle down. Afterall, this is not the first time that I am in this country. This should have been the issue last October, not now. But why? Why am I so convinced I don't understand the people of this land and also convinced that they do not understand us. 


I wondered why have all my years of working with Americans, British, Koreans, Japanese, Thai, Indians, Chinese, Australian, New Zealanders, to name the majority nationalities in my line of work, would I be hitting a road block? I mean, it is not as if we have a language barrier here...


The more I think about it, the more upset I am with myself. I wondered whether age has eaten up the openness in me, or having been out of the scene for awhile now, has killed my love for being open and embracing new cultures and new people. If anyone of you wondered what kept me working so hard, for so many long hours, much of the motivation really is in the many cultures I get to cross everyday. That is exciting to me. Sitting at my seat, running through my mind before picking up the phone, "how do I put it across so that they understand, so that a relationship can be forged?" I love every chance of being able to put that to practise. I think the hardest for me was in understanding my scottish staff. But they turned out brilliantly nice to work with, once I come to understand their world of English. 


But being here makes me wonder if I have forgotten to pack that skill in my luggage, amidst all the things I have forgotten to pack, like winter wear or enough tops. I have less than WEP. My goodness. I am really living on bear minimum here. So pardon me if my outfits become a little too familar over the course of time. 


Anyway, back to the main topic, I think I got a eureka today. I think there is such a thing as an international culture, you know a code of behaviors and language, of values and morale that are wired into people involved in international business, and military is also part of this. I think for people who are very involved in the international scene and exposed to vastly different cultures over time have this wired in, conciously or subconciously. Which explains why we have no problem last winter (we are in a military community and also a city with many travelers). 


And it is for me a humbling experience. That I cannot presume to say I understand a culture by just the people I meet at the workplace or any place. I have forgotten that culture really is a complex thing, woven in it are life experiences, traditions, community, economy and nature, all at play to shape the place, meter by meter, mile by mile. 


So let's learn culture, religion, people, race, one person at a time, for there truly is no generic in any of this. I now understand why it drives a friend of mine up the wall by the slightest bit of stereo typing we let ourselves in for. Well, guess his wealth of life has backing for it. 


Share your thoughts, would love to hear your point of view too. 

Motivation...

Hmm, finding the motivation to write....