Arrived safely

Phew! More travelling done with my boys alone. This time it was a bit rushed in Hong Kong airport as they couldn't check us all in from Osaka. I had to drag the kids off the airplane and quickly go through immigration and pick up a suitcase and go to check in at the departure hall. Luckily they could put us on the earlier flight to Singapore but that meant we had to zoom through to the departure gate. I got our tickets at the check in counter at 13:25 and the boarding time was 13:50! If it was Brunei airport no problems but Hong Kong airport is slightly bigger!!

But I made it to the gate ok and my exhausted boys fell asleep 20min after take off and did't wake up until 20min prior to landing. I watched a movie and had my meal and a cup of Haagen-Dazs ice cream :)

Matthew was waiting at arrivals to pick us up. The Rose family is back together again!!

We will be back at the airport later this evening to pick up special parcel from Auckland NZ, Merryn and Dennis are arriving!!! We are very excited!!

Time for traveling (again!)

It's time for our usual activity - traveling by airplanes again. Oliver is so switched on nowadays, putting his airplane clothes on (pants and a shirt), packing his own little suitcase with his favourite toys.

But this was a new experience, getting a special porter service at the airport!

Everyday life continued...

The rest of our stay went really fast. Having continued our normal routine kept us very very busy! 

On Monday I had Zumbaaaaaaa!

Playdate with Malik in the afternoon:

Tuesday was a big day for Oliver. He got to go to his school once again and spend two hours in the classroom with all his friends. He was just sooooo excited! 

As usual simpang bro and sis took care of him :)

We were there nice and early:

Straight away got into the activities:

This week the children in nursery were studying space. They had lots of lovely displays and story books and even got to watch a real space shuttle take off on the screen.

He loved the snack time - his ate all of his sandwich :)

His friends went away for PE class - Quick Oliver! get on your favourite ride ons!!

As you can guess it was very hard to convince Oliver to leave the school. He was just too happy there. I really hope we will settle here in Singapore very soon and find a nice school for him to go. 

It was non stop after the school visit - We went to join the Craft Crew and had a lovely catch up and lunch. Then spent our afternoon having a playdate one last time. 

By the time we got home Oliver was fast asleep and it was already dinner time. It was our last dinner at the Watson's so I offered to make sushi for dinner. Lucky I had a great assistant :) 

I had to make sure I had every opportunity to catch up with my friends. On Wednesday morning after school drop off we went to the Empire just like we used to do for a nice breakfast with Isabel and Oscar. It was so lovely!

I made sure I dropped by the Empire Deli to pick up my favourite roast beef sandwich for lunch. The shop lady who always served me was very happy to see me and was wondering why she hasn't seen me for a long time. 

We got home and enjoyed the lovely sandwich with Nathan and Boel and suddenly it was already time to leave Brunei... 

It was a short visit but we totally enjoyed being back. Oliver is already sad he doesn't have his friends and familiar surroundings. But I am sure we will be coming back to visit our wonderful friends in the very near future :) See you soon everyone! Thank you so much for having us xxx

On the plane again

We left Osaka early Saturday morning to come back to Singapore. This time we flew Cathay Pacific through Hong Kong. I tried Singapore Airlines last time to avoid the transit but it ended up too long in the plane with two active boys.

Our plane from Osaka was late arriving from HK so we had to change our tickets to an earlier flight to make sure we can make the connection. But it ended up the plane we didn't get on was the plane we were supposed to be on from HK to Singapore, which meant so much extra time in transit :(

But my boys behaved so well which made it less stressful for me to travel. We spent most of the time in the Diners lounge. Oliver must been so tired when we got there he said "Mummy, I really need coffee..."

We managed to get home about 2 hours later than we were supposed to. I think we've had enough of flying for a while...

This is what I love

After grandma left to Nagoya we decided to go down to the beach. It was too cold to put our feet in the water but I really enjoyed the fresh air and clear sea water.

Oliver couldn't believe he saw his favourite train right in front of him:



Awesome stone beach:





It was low tide when we visited but when it is high tide this is a great paddling spot. This was our spot for so many years.



And this little pool - we used to call it "our bath" as the water gets very warm from the sun. We used have a dip every time we got too cold from swimming.



Miyakuni sisters :)



And our kids:



There is another spot we used to go - only 5 min drive from where we were. Can you see why this beach is very special??
-Yap the wave comes from both sides!



We realised how much we missed being there and what our kids are missing out on. So my sisters and I decided to visit there again this summer. I cannot wait! It will be so much fun :)

At grandma's house

On the next day we all visited grandma's house where we spent so many holidays. The house is surrounded by mountains and it takes only 5 minutes to walk to the sea. She moved to Nagoya 5 years ago so nobody lives in the house but we are keeping it as a holiday house.

I think I started to go there when I was 5 for summer and new year holidays. So to me over 30 years of memories in this house. I really miss visiting the place but without her and grandpa there it is not the same anymore... Very sad... But I hope we can keep the house in the family so we won't stop visiting this wonderful place.



Family photo time:



Once more all of us together:



Time to say goodbye:



I hope it won't be too long we visit her again next. She is just so important to us and I really want Oliver and Luca to get to know their great-grandmother.

At a highway service station

We were all excited and hopped into our cars (all 15 of the Miyakuni family) and headed out to Wakayama to attend our grandmother's 88th birthday celebration.

Since we were little we visited her house every holiday but now that she moved to Nagoya we haven't done a big family holiday together in ages.

We stopped at a highway service area to get some drinks and lunch. Japanese highway stops are very commercialised, many souvenirs, lots of restaurants, coffee and bread shops etc so it is sort of a destination you always stop at.



Great view of Wakayama City:







Welcome signs - Hello kitty





Benkei version:

Getting easier each time

Traveling with my boys alone is getting easier and easier. I decided I like stopping over somewhere rather than having one long flight. So we stopped in HK again this time. Nice to stretch our legs and look at shops :) Luca doesn't complain at all - he just sits in the buggy and looks around. Oliver is so good walking and carrying his bags. He can be well entertained just sitting by the window watching all the planes. I guess they have been well trained since they were in my tummy!

By the wing

On the way back to Japan (yes, we are back in Japan again! how lucky!!) Oliver had a window seat. We normally get a bassinet row but since it was full we got this wonderful seat - by the wing.
I don't normally like this row as it blocks too much of the view. But for Oliver this was perfect!

He was very fascinated about the noise and the movement the wing was making during take off and landing (hmmmm...? where does he get that from?)

Just too many what questions for mummy at one time tho - "What's that noise mummy?" "What is it doing?" "What is that mummy?"

Water fun

The perfect way to end a hot afternoon at the zoo - water park!



Before we knew it the boys were at full speed running and splashing.
Nothing could stop them - scream! giggle giggle!











Ding ding ding!! Water bucket is full!



Vladimir took Luca under the water tunnel:





Diego was very gentle with Luca:







It was such a lovely day. Great fun with wonderful friends. We haven't seen each other over a year but now we live in Singapore we will be seeing them more often for sure! Oliver thought Diego is living in Singapore as well and was asking to see him at the zoo the next day too - bless him.

We must keep in touch! See you very soon :)