Christmas with the Family

Hohoho!! Happy Boxing Day! We've spent the last couple of days at home watching christmas movie after movie simply because every single shop is closed during the christmas period. The day revolved around meals basically, and the baby of course, who looks like such a sweet angel when she sleeps. She's really really adorable when she's in a good mood, she talks to us! After spending 2 years in speech, it really isn't bull shit that babies are communicating with you when they babble. Simple things like cooing at her and waiting for her response introduces the infant to something like turn taking, and imitation (which then leads to them learning sounds and words). It's fascinating watching it doing it live and just playing with her.

But of course when her crankiness comes along, there's no amount of cooing and singing that can soothe her unless it's as nutritious as her mother's neh neh.

But look at that angel!! I love this baby swaddle suit they put her in sometimes when it's cold. She looks like a fat Nanyang girl, haha.. (no offence).

So how did we spend our white christmas?? Everyone keeps pointing that out to me how lucky I am to have a white christmas (like I said, it's really not like in the movies).. But, who can fault me for trying? haha...

It snowed the whole of Christmas Eve. I know because I was running around trying to print photos for my christmas gift to my sister and liner (which I failed miserably at because the blardy machine was kooky). And snow is way way nastier than rain. I mean, it tastes pretty great (like ice kachang), but when you're walking against the wind, snow in your eyes sting like acid man.. I think I looked quite loser walking and blinking furiously (as if my eyes aren't small enough already).

And just the day before I got a pair of pretty pink Nike shoes for only 30 Francs! They were half price, and since I use my 'school shoes' so often when term starts, my mum told me to get them. (I can't wait for post christmas sales in London!!)

So how christmas did christmas get in the house?? Here's how:

1) Christmas Tree: Check

2) Stockings by the fireplace: Check
3) Actual Fireplace: Check4) Turkey dinner (ok we had turkey breast baked rice/pasta: Check
5) Multiple dish dinner (ok it's not quite a spread, but there's only 4 of us!): Stuffed mushrooms, grilled garlic prawns and veggies.. =)


6) Being constantly stuffed with food through the day: Check
I was making mochi and liner was making sushi with the sushi ingredients I got them for christmas ( since I couldn't get the photo)
7) Pretty Breakfast! Japanese pancakes lovingly made and arranged by liner when he woke up at like... lunch time. hahaha..
And we didn't get a family photo during christmas as usual, haha.. sometimes being a camwhoring type actually is good cos it means at least you have pictures as memories. =)

So that's my christmas in Zurich! Now for the real deal.... post christmas shopping sales in London!! :D:D:D

A Holiday On A Holiday!

On Monday we had our first family holiday with Gaby to the city of Bern (the capital of Switzerland), which is approximately an hour's train ride away. Well, basically you can think of it as going from Jurong to Tampines for a holiday ok? The qualifying factor which makes it a holiday is the hotel stay of course! (Staying in a hotel, no matter how fantastic or cheap, always makes a holiday a holiday)

Bern's the federal city of Switzerland and is mainly German speaking, with a pretty small population of a little over 100,000 people. I've concluded that apart from being the somewhat Canberra of Switzerland, Bern was also once a home to Einstein! We went to the Einstein Museum (more details about that next post) which was pretty insightful. (I think I now almost understand the Theory of Relativity fully).

Our first and only photo with everyone!

We went to this tourist spot which hosts several Brown Bears, the animal icon of Bern. (I don't know what the exact story is, but I'm sure you can read about it on Wiki or something.

And look! Ang moh huat kueh! (Those chinese prayer cakes) We didn't try any of that though, it was huge.

The train which we took to Bern was similar to this one, a double deckered train that runs from one end of Switzerland to the other. Tickets to Bern cost about 60Francs each. (But Liner, my sister and mum bought 50% discount cards which give them cheaper tickets). Expensive MRT hor?

Not only is transport expensive, (a daily tram ticket would cost about 8 Francs, and my monthly pass was 80 Francs), housing is pretty pricey, food is pricey (my sister and liner's meal for 2 at a restaurant was 70Francs, and it was Schnitzel of all things! I was appalled that they charged 30 bucks for fried breaded meat and veggies man...

But... there are some cheap things here in Switzerland. Alcohol, for one, as it is in almost all European countries, seems to be cheaper than water. Just look at the extensive range of wine, liquor and what not in their larger supermarket

That's just a third of the area my camera could capture

GIANT PLATE OF ICE KACHANG!!! I bet ice kachang would be dirt cheap if it were sold.

On a more serious note, cars ARE cheap here. Look at the price of the Porche!

And the price of the Jaguar! An old Jaguar is still a jaguar...But toys are expensive, this tiny pink lamb was 4 Francs (But it's cute and I'm reliving my childhood)

Speaking of toys... I can't believe christmas is coming! It feels sooooo distant because I feel so cut off from all teh festivities in church or at home. And since it's snowing all the time, it takes that 'christmasy' feel away. Even our fireplace doesn't look as christmasy as the movies make it out to be. Right now I'm just replaying Mariah Carey's All I Want for Christmas is You just so that I can get into that christmas mood.

Fireplace!

Well, Merry Christmas everyone!! I wish I could be spending it in Singapore with the hot weather and friends though, but I am thankful for the nice cold weather and potential fireplace. OK I shall put up stockings on the fireplace!

Let it snow! let it snow! let it snow!

So mum and I made a trip to Konstanz Germany yesterday for a day of shopping, much like how one would cross over the border to JB to shop. (And we ate plenty of bratwursts!) However it was freezing! And I have plenty of photo evidence, just that my SD card has decided to act up and make all of yesterday's photos disappear. Hence, I'll update about that later.

I never realised how cold it was in Zurich until I googled the average temperature here. Apparently, temperatures range from -5 to 1 degree celcius on a good day. (Yesterday's temeperatures were between -3 and -4)

Here's how it looked like in the morning before the snow came on heavy 2 days back...

Before

After a couple of hours. Looka t the snow on the cars

And I managed to capture a picture of a snow flake!

And while Gaby's all wrapped up comfortable like a jelly bean...


Her grandma's all bundled up looking like a snowmanAnd her aunt made the mistake of wearing this not-very-warm coat
I swear my legs were freezing

My sister and liner brought us to the Christmas Markets at the Bahnhof (Main station), which was slightly open air and very cold as well, but extremely busy and beautiful. The christmas markets sell all sorts of pretty expensive trinkets and crafts and food. For instance, very beautiful (and very expensive) glass christmas ornaments, probably hand blown and shaped. Notice the detail?

And hot wine! Which was surprisingly sweet and quite comforting!
And more glassware shaped like birds. (I don't know how else to describe them)
And Sprugli! Which has the most fantastic mini macroons! (Each sold for 1Franc and are about the diameter of our 50 cent coin) More pictures of that if I get a chance.And what swiss christmas market is complete without a Swarovski shop and christmas tree! This one had heaps of crystals on the.. HEAPS
Which concludes today's update. I'm just dying to get to the end of Michael Crichton's State of Fear so that I can get onto The Time Traveller's Wife, which my sister swears is amazingly sweet. I haven't read novels in ages and now I'm reading 2 a week! Hopefully this helps myelinate my 'airy fairy linguistic' pathways instead of all the non-fiction I've been reading.

A week in Zurich=8 Days

I had the sudden enlightenment about the Beatles song title '8 Days a Week'. We all dismiss it as an exaggeration of one's commitment to another person (8 days a week ala 101%), which are both seemingly impossible things. However, here's what I realised yesterday...

I've been here since last Saturday, making it day 1 in Zurich. And if you count the number of days from saturday to saturday, that's 8 days,
And what's another way of saying that you'll see someone the next saturday? Next WEEK.

Therefore, there are 8 days a week.. no?

;)

Day 6 in Switzerland-Zurich

Hello from the land of one cute crying baby, the phlegm-y, throat-clearing language and snow! It's been snowing this whole morning, and I never thought I'd get to see the day where I'll watch snowflakes dancing in the wind as they melt on contact with anything solid (don't get jealous, it isn't as romantic and dreamy as it is in our minds girls!)The view from my mummy's room

After spending the past 6 days fussing and handling the cute lil furball Gaby, shopping a little in the city and planning menu after menu for the meals of what seems to be 5 hungry people (because my sister now eats for 2), reading 2 novels in a record time of 5 days, and just slacking my bum off, I finally decided that it's high time to update this blog with a dozen pictures! :D

Firstly, let's recall my sister before little Gaby...

At the airport before they left for Zurich, 6 months into pregnancy?

And look at the proud mummy and granny at the subway!

We've all been struggling to get Gaby used to the pacifier and bottle feeding as my sister and liner have a christmas dinner to attend (during christmas day of course). But Gaby has made it known to the whole world that she absolutely HATES having any form of plastic in her mouth. Wahh... I've never heard such an accusing cry from an infant before. It's as if we're torturing the poor little fluffball. Alas, we finally got her on the pacifier one day on the tram! I took a picture telling my sister that it's probably one of her first few important 'moments' to remember.

See the pacifier! So clever!!
And one of my attempts to make playtime less boring by trying to stimulate her intellect with a cute, fabric IKEA baby book. She actually was quite uncomfortable in this pose because it was too upright, haha..

And what's a baby without all that poop right? Thankfully, as smelly as her poop is, Gaby only poops once in a few days, but that doesn't mean she doesn't fart every few hours, releasing a deathly stink bomb every now and then. Only then will my mum patiently lie her down and try to make her ooo-ooo (aka poop).

Notice the shape of my mum's mouth, it's the distinct 'Ooo-ooooooo' coo that all singaporean grandmas use to make babies shit.

Ok enough about the baby, you'll be seeing much more of her in many posts to come. More about Zurich then! OR actually, just a couple more paragraphs because I'll soon need to cook lunch for the hungry mother and my mother.

We went out shopping that day and this particulat mall had the most interesting benches! You sit on them to make them flat. Okay that didn't come out as clearly as I wanted. Aiya, look at the picture and figure it out yourself la.

Be careful not to put a sandwich on one end or it'll just propel up when you stand up
Look what I found in the tram station's vending machine again!! It's the famous Cannibis tea I blogged about when I went to Prague! All for 2.50 Francs! My sister and I shall try it soon and I'll tell you about the effectiveness another time. hahaha..
As bundled as I could get to withstand the cold. The sun sets at 5 like in Australian winter, making it a little difficult going out late. Average temperature during the day is around 6 I think..
And just to wrap up, here's a slightly tat-glam photo of the baby as she expressed her displeasure being belted into the car seat.
But of course any tat-glamness will eb salvaged by this very very VERY cute photo of her. =) Although my sister says that it makes her look like one of those cam-whoring ah-lians on facebook/friendster.
And of course while I'm here miles away with a colicky baby, what else can I do but miss my own babe back home? HEh... anti-climatic right? I knew you wouldn't be expecting this, haha..

Ciao for now!