Bangkok, Thailand

I just noticed that this post was in my draft. I uploaded the photos few months ago and totally forgot to post about the Bangkok trip.

We took the public transport including the ferry along the Chao Phraya to visit Wat Pho temple. This was my second visit to Bangkok after 20 years. I am sure I visited this temple but it was still impressive to see the reclining Buddha. The boys pointed out Buddha each time they saw one. There were Buddha everywhere.

We also visited the National Museum and came upon a German/English guide. As we were the only family visiting on a Thursday morning, the guide tried to explain in English and in his limited French to the boys. Other than us, there were students on field trip and a few visitors here and there. This place was peaceful and the funeral chariot hall was full of interesting and beautifully crafted objects.

Having my mother with us, we visited markets as well and even had durians right there sitting on a bench while the guys (Seb, my nephew, A1 and A2) waited patiently for us. None of them like durians. Too bad for them.

Below are some photos of that long away trip. We won't be visiting Asia this year. Hopefully next year, we can celebrate Chinese New Year in Singapore.

Pine cones a plenty

We received a big box of pine cones from our neighbour.

Apparently, pine cones are great as a fire starter for the fireplace. They crack when burning. Just the kind of sound a successful fire in the fireplace should be producing. I like that sound. 

A1 came home from school and asked to have one. He learnt that lady birds make pine cones their home during winter. He wanted to build one by poking holes into it with a screwdriver. Seb proposed to hang it in the garden once the house was completed.

At the moment, it is too wet to go out hang the lady bird's house. And tomorrow, we might have snow.

Another upcycled bag

I made another bag. This time round, it was for A2. He was happy to have his own upcycled bag.

This bag is slightly different from the other upcycled jeans bag as this is made from a boy's jean. In order to give the bag a bigger storage space, I lengthened it by adding part of the pant's leg. You can see the inverted V just under the zipper.  

This second experience was smoother than the first. I hope to make a third one as this is a fast and easy project. Just need to find someone who needs one. Any taker?

Cold new year

2016 ended on a cold note. It did not snow but it frosted. The temperature for the past few days was a few degrees below zero. 

We went out to the forest to walk the dog as usual but other than that, we kept warm at home. 

On new year's eve, we invited two families to celebrate with us. They are my neighbours and did not have to worry about drink and drive. They walked home at 1.30am.

The kids stayed up until the guests were gone. The next day, A1 woke up at 9am. That is the latest he can sleep. 

A start of a new year. Hoping this year to be good to everyone in terms of health, family and work. You and me included.

Frozen webs here and there. Just lovely. This was on the wood shed.

The forest turned white.

The boys using their bicycles to break the ice.

Kapla fun that reached the sky.
When it fell, it made loud noise.

Handsome warming up. He enjoyed his forest run even in this cold.

A letter from Father Christmas

The boys each received a letter from Father Christmas yesterday. Yipee!

A1 read out the letter to A2. Father Christmas mentioned that he got their letters from his elves while he was cutting wood in the forest. ....

The two letters were identical. At the end of the letter, Father Christmas invited them to color the coloring papers he sent and to upload them on LaPoste website with the help of an adult.

Not very authentic but well, still a nice gesture from LaPoste.

The boys spent their time after lunch coloring the image sent by Father Christmas. They intended to hang them on the Christmas tree for Father Christmas.

Almond milk and cookies

We have been making our own almond milk. Seb ordered a milk bag from Amazon and with the Thermomix, it was a piece of cake to make the milk.

We soaked 100 grams of almond nuts over night.

The next day, we poured away the water, put the almond nuts in the thermomix with 1 liter of water.

The nuts were blended at high speed so any powerful blender will do.

After that, we filtered the milk out with the milk bag.

The fresh almond milk can be kept for a few days in the fridge. For the residue, known as okara, I used it to make vegan cookies. 

The 12 cookies I made would be finished before the milk was consumed. They were really good. If you are interested, I can send you the URL of the recipe. 

We no longer buy almond milk in a carton. Making our own almond milk is much cheaper and healthier as it is so fresh. And the cookies, lucky friends (cos there was never enough to share) who tried them could not tell they were vagan.

Now, doesn't this post tempt you to try this out yourself? ;)

Christmas windows

Last Sunday after church, we went to admire the window display put up by the Grand Magasins, Galleries Lafayette and Printemps. Galleries' was on a white theme. The boys did not take long to view from one end to the other end. 

We then went into Galleries to look at the center display. The decoration above the bags section were grand. I liked it.

Under the big white Christmas tree was the Chanel stand. Other than Chanel No 5, there were other Chanel number perfume and the whole area smelled so good. There were many people so we did not stay long.

We continued towards Printemps and the boys stayed longer in front of each window. Though it was all about mode with Jimmy Choo cited everywhere, it was still fun for the kids to watch the moving puppets.

We stopped by FNAC to get some Christmas gifts and Seb got the boys a few books.

After that, we went to meet up the boys' nanny, Ah Yi. We catch up once a while. She made the boys apple and pear compote and bought them their favourite snacks, dried prunes and nuts. Too bad the boys could not communicate with her in Chinese. They spoke to her in French. A1 even tried to speak to her in English. Just made me laugh. I explained to him Ah Yi was from China and did not understand english.

That summed up our Sunday in Paris. There were many security guards checking bags at the entrance of every store. The thought that we might be attacked surfaced in my mind but I pushed it aside. We do have to live our lives as normal as possible despite the random violence.

Caught in the act

I never expect to see Bao Bei on the dining table drinking A1's leftover chocolate milk. At 12 years old, is she going senile?

Bao Bei only drinks water and eat her cat biscuits. We had offered her milk, cheese, ham and fish but she never eat them. Unlike my friends' cats, she does not go to the kitchen top to lick nor eat food.

I wonder what was on her mind this day.

Less of that Christmas magic

A1 and I went to choose the Christmas tree on Saturday when A2 was having his tennis lesson. We chose the tallest tree in the 150-175cm range for 29€. The two boys decorated the tree and I only helped to put the star at the top. They were really happy that Christmas is coming.

2 weeks ago, they each wrote a letter to Father Christmas. But alas, a 8 year old boy told A1 and his friend that the parents are the Father Christmas. A1 had his doubts but his friend and him were assured that Father Christmas exists because both of them had sent their letter to the same address.

Père Noël

1 Rue du Ciel étoilé

Pôle Nord

Note: La Poste (French postal service) takes care of letters addressed to Father Christmas. No stamp needed. We even get a reply from Father Christmas if our letters are sent out in time.

Yesterday, the canteen lady told us that during lunch, A1 had told a table of younger children that Father Christmas did not exist. I found a moment to be alone with him this evening and talked to him. He told me he believed a little that Father Christmas exists. I confirmed his doubt and he was surprised that we were the ones buying the presents. He asked if we went out on 24 Dec night to buy the presents. LOL. I told him that the presents were bought in advance and hidden in the garage.

I explained that a real Father Christmas existed a long time ago. Now, it is tradition for adults to fulfil Father Christmas' job in bringing joy to children. He is a big boy now to know this secret. I told him everyone in the family contributed to his presents. He took everything well. But he mentioned that it was no good to lie to children. That made me smile again. He had promised not to let the cat out of the bag for the younger children including his brother.

Then he went to get the money given by the Tooth Fairy. He wanted to pay me for the presents we bought them over the years. LOL again.

Gee. I am not sure how much he believes in the Tooth Fairy. But that is for another discussion. Christmas is just that little less magical. A2 is not stupid and he hangs out with A1's friends often. I wonder if he has doubts too.

Bateau Parisienne

I am always writing old news. Being busy with family and work, I do not have much time to update this blog.

So, the boys got invited for a birthday party in Paris in October. Denise's boy, J invited his classmates and my boys for his 7th birthday. We were invited for a ride along the river Seine followed by a birthday tea party. While waiting to board the boat, I made balloon swords for the boys. They had fun running around on a sunny late summer day.

The boat ride, Enchanted Cruise, was catered to children. There were two elves singing and explaining the major landmarks along the Seine. They were highly entertaining. They even produced a music CD which could be bought at the end of the cruise.

After the cruise, we ate cake and J opened his many presents. Everyone was happy especially the lucky birthday boy.

Upcycle jean = Sling bag

I made a jeans sling bag from my old jeans. This is an easy to do bag. I used A1's old karate belt as the handle.

A1 carried it to school today as his swimming bag. He told me his teacher liked it and would like to have one too. I took that as a compliment. But first, I promised A2 to make a similar one though I only had an old jeans.

 The boys had several jeans that were torn at the knees which I hoped to upcycle. However, 5 and 6 years old size jeans are small. Doubt the upcycle kid's jean bag can contain much stuff. I shall try and see how it goes.

Zoo de Beauval

Here are some photos of the visit to the Zoo de Beauval. It is the only zoo in France to have two pandas (borrowed) from China.

The four boys enjoyed themselves a lot. We arrived at 10am and left at 5pm. The zoo was big and we managed to visit 80% of the park. We caught two shows, the bird show which was spectacular and the seals performance.

In the afternoon, it rained and we took shelter in the gorillas greenhouse and the aquarium. There were many interesting animals. The kids were very happy with this trip. This zoo is about 3 hours drive from Paris. The zoo has two hotels and for far away visitors, it is worth considering staying there and visiting the zoo in 2 days.

Kapla joy

Boys still love playing with kapla, especially A1. He had the patience to make this tall tower. It was taller than me.

On another occasion, he made a castle wall at the entrance of his bedroom door. He managed to walk over it without any problem even in the dark.

As usual all these constructions last less than a week when the floor has to be cleared for the cleaning lady on monday. If I have to vacuum the rooms, I would try my best to avoid them. Not easy at all.

All Saints' holiday at Brittany

I had not visited Brittany since a while. The boys spent 10days over there with their grandparents during summer after their trip to Singapore.

So for the all saints' day long weekend, we packed everyone including pets in the car and headed for the summer house. We reached on a friday night and left on wed afternoon. The Saturday morning market at Saint Renan is a must for me so I insisted that we reached there on a friday. I bought strawberries (the last of the season), artichokes and 2 big crabs at the market. The boys love seafood.

I was expecting cold windy weather as we were in autumn now. However, we had sunny and warm days over there. It was 17 degrees in the afternoon and we were in t-shirts. The winter coats I brought along were not necessary except for the day we left.

We spent everyday walking the dog, going to the beaches and playing tennis. We went to the swimming pool  and played bowling once. The boys built sand castles on the mostly deserted beach.

It was a relaxing short getaway. Handsome enjoyed the sandy beach.

School holiday ended on wed. The next day when the boys were preparing to go to school, A2 mentioned that he was a lucky boy. He had spent an overnight trip with his friends when we visited the castle and the zoo in the beginning of the school holiday. After that, he spent several days at his grandparents' before we went to pick up the boys on friday afternoon and headed for Brittany. He said he had forgotten how his room looked like.

The next school holiday will be during the christmas period. We are staying put for the festive season.