trippingdifferently

This morning – New Year’s Eve – it started snowing & i mean SNOWING – it was coming down in big fat flakes like i have never – i don’t remember it ever snowing such big fat heavy flakes at this level (400m) in the 6.3 yrs we have been here.
Here’s a little video of it:

So it snowed from about 9am till about 2.3pm – those big fat flakes came down with a vengence – then it thinned out & is still coming down now in little flurries as i write this. We may not have had a white Christmas but it looks like we will have a white New Year’s Day 😉 Snow still thrills me – i still stand there & stare at the flakes falling gently from the sky, feeling warm & fuzzy all over & spotting a silly grin on my face – hahahhahaa ;p Hubby gets a kick out of seeing me like this. Snow just fansinates me!

Well, talking about snow – we were surrounded by it for 3x days after Christmas – we went up to Interlaken & stayed for 3x days 2x nights – went skiing up in Muerren & Maennlichen – it was beautiful. We were up there with Michelle & Filippo & Enrico. The little hotel we stayed at was really nice, comfortable & cosy with very friendly staff – Hotel Roessli. They allowed dogs so Snowy went with us. He enjoyed himself rolling around in the snow – here’s a pict:

Tobias & Michelle took a 2-hr private lesson together – Michelle had never skiied before & this was her last chance to try before going home to Singapore. They enjoyed it. Thot Tobias lasted only maybe 1.5hrs – i’m not sure i wasn’t there – for the 1st time in a couple of years, Mummy got to ski – well, actually it felt like taking a private lesson – & it was a great private lesson – Filippo is a fantastic ski teacher 😉 i was very wobbly after having not skiied for so long – but he was patient & kind & was really good at pointing out what i did wrong at each of my countless number of falls & how i should correct myself – but the end of the very long run – i was doing quite ok – taking the turns correctly & staying upright for more than just a couple of minutes each time. But every time i lose focus i fall – i guess until it becomes second nature i will have to concentrate to get downhill ;p

Here are Tobias & Michelle at the end of their lesson:

Of cos there is another reason we go up to Muerren – we know someone who lives there & even better than that – he runs a Chinese resturant up there 😉 Authentic Singaporean food – yummy! If you ever go up there, look Uncle Tham up – there is only 1x Chinese resturant in that little carless alpine village.

Photo by Michelle

Oh & the other highlight of Muerren is that it is just below Schilthorn – which is where they filmed "On Her Majesty’s Service" 007 Jame Bond film. The view from the revolving resturant up there is just breathtaking!
Here’s a tiny glimse:

Photos by Michelle

The very cute & funny thing which happened was Tobias falling asleep in the middle of his lunch – he was simply so tired from his early morning & his ski lesson. This is not the 1st time he has fallen asleep mid-meal – the other time was also during a ski weekend – & it was the 1st time we put him on skis – 2x yrs ago – it was a lot less graceful – that last time he fell face 1st into his fries – at least this time he slumped into his chair ;p

The second day of skiing – i chose not to over do it & relaxed – a very short swim with Tobias & Michelle at the local public pool & then following the guys & Michelle up to Grindelwald – it was freezing there! i now know what the beginnings of frostbite feel like – it was -14degrees up there. This was below the cloud/fog line – once up higher, in the sunshine it wasn’t so bad. i spent the afternoon trying to help Tobias learn to stop (which was what the instructor had said he needed to work on). Here’s a video of him skiing in the little kids’ ski area:

Doesn’t he look soooo cute in his little outfit with helmet & googles & in case u didn’t get a good look – here’s a pict of him on the conveyor belt at the Kids’ Ski lift:

So that’s our post-Christmas adventure.
syc

i know – it’s 5x days past Christmas day – if you are a regular reader of our blog, you would know by now that’s how i blog – when the event has long past.

Anyhow, as is tradition, Christmas morning was filled with breakfast (pancakes) & presents:
Here’s us on Christmas morning:

Note: the little doggie is not ours – we are dogsitting for our neighbours – that’s little Snowy.

Here’s Tobias with his Christmas haul:

He got lots of toys this year – Cugolino, Tier Auf Tier (animal upon animal), wooden puzzle, 3x VCD (2x Bob the Builder & 1x Veggie Tales), 1x Bob the Builder figure & 1x hat/cap. Walter got 1x dual time watch, his fav English cheese (Red Leicester) as well as a few other English favourites & a candle light holder from Moroco (from our friend Michelle). Sandra got 2x scarfs this year – 1x from Walter (beige with little sparkles) & 1x from Michelle (blue from her travels).

We had Christmas day lunch with my cousin Linda & her husband, Sheldon & 2x boys – Joseph & Benjamin as well as Walter’s colleague, Filippo (Tobias’ beloved Uncle Filippo) & his friend, Enrico & of cos Michelle who was staying with us over Christmas.
Here’a a picture of them all:

Note: Michelle just darted out of the shot as i clicked so she is that cut-off person on the left 😉

We had a lovely steamboat lunch & then Christmas pudding – we ate so much (for at least 2.5hrs, i think) that no one really wanted any dinner – except for the kids that is – they had what they had & still had room for dinner 😉 Ahhhh… the days of having the ability to eat & enjoy & not worry about where it will "appear" on your body.

That’s it for now.
syc

This is the Yoongz 2nd year writing their Christmas Letter.

So what has 2008 brought to us? What adventures? What thrills? Well, i must say that it has been a fairly calm year – there were a few highlights but not overwhelmingly many.

We all enjoyed some pampering in Feb/Mar in Singapore as we made our annual visit there – we think Tobias especially enjoyed this visit compared to previous ones as this one he is so much more aware of how all these people who live in this other sunny country are related to him.

This year also marks the 2nd year of skiing for Tobias – he still loves it but is getting really stubbon about following instructions – very into doing things his way – doesn’t help him get down the hill unfortunately. No worries we will work on that this upcoming season.

April saw Tobias starting Chinese/Mandarin classes – he loves it! He can’t sit still in class but he listens and knows the words, however he’s not wonderful at writing yet. He is still attending his Kinderkrippe (Swiss Daycare) once a week. He has also started a “Pre-Kindergarten” type class at Gymboree – it is not exactly pre-kindi but is structured as much as possible like a kindi class – with the same games, story time, play time & activity time. Another addition to Tobias’ week is 1x morning at Kangaroo Club – this is a bilingual pre-school ran by an Ozzie lady – she is very nice. He has really taken to going here – he has fun in a much smaller group setting than at Daycare and more structured time as well. i know this sounds like a lot for a 4yr old – but really it’s only 1x full day, 2x afternoons (1hr and 2hrs) and 1x morning (4hrs) so that’s not too much. We still get to spend 1x full day, 2x half days at home and the weekends are for the family, besides he loves going to all his activities 😉

Oh besides all these classes, the other thing he loves is being at the computer – not surprising really, seeing how much time we (his parents) spent at the computer. He is getting really good at navigating his way around the computer but still hasn’t figure out the typing part yet. He regualrly plays his online games – Thomas the Tank Engine & other cartoon websites. Some may say such early exposure is not good – but early exposure with good parental guidance (limiting time and what is played) will benefit him – more tech-savvy, better able to handle media. Anyhow, it’s amazing to watch him at it.

Tobias is also well-exposed to books – Sandra is into her 2nd yr as an Usborne Books rep & enjoying it greatly. It’s really hard work constantly moving all those heavy boxes of books, carrying them to sales and setting up, checking stocks, selling, packing & posting etc… Early in the year the sales were slow but it really picked up from Sept onwards – 11x book fairs in 4x months 😀 – Thank God for such good sales! Walter was wonderful, taking leave to take Tobias to classes when Sandra can’t, taking care of Tobias on Sats when there were book sales. Our family has been extended by the addition of 2x “uncles” – Filippo and Carlos – Walter’s colleagues. They were wonderful; babysitting Tobias when Walter wasn’t around and Sandra needed to work. They both live very nearby and Carlos even stayed with us for 2x months when he 1st arrived in Switzerland in May. He was Tobias’ constant playmate for those 2x months. Walter was away for almost 5x weeks in June so it was good to have “extended” family around.

Sandra had stepped down from Sunday School Coordination in Aug, only to be asked to be part of a 3-person coordination team – which she agreed to as it meant that all the load was not on her alone. This happened as a result of a change of structure in Sunday School as well as the fact that the church is looking for a new pastor as the previous pastor had to move (family reasons). So we now have an interium pastor – he & his wife were pastoring the church about 10 years ago.

November marked a new adventure for Sandra – she joined NaNoWriMo! The aim of NaNoWriMo is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30x days. The idea is that many people will say they will one day write a novel but that day would never come unless they were pushed – NaNo is that push! Sandra was hit by the writing bug quite some time before Nov already so when a friend asked her to join – she jumped at it – she didn’t finish, managing 32,191 words – but it has started something wonderful ;D BSF and the Women’s Day Away Association are still very much a part of Sandra’s regular schedule.

Walter has been travelling quite a bit for work this past year – here’s where he has been to: Berlin, Paris, Moldval, USA (a couple of times, 1x he stayed 5x weeks), Romania, twice to Canada and France. Travelling isn’t all that bad – Walter managed to purchase rather cheaply a new laptop – anniversary present to ourselves – in Canada. It was also because of his travels to Canada that he was able to meet up with a long-lost best friend, much to his delight and joy. With the interium pastor & his wife very much into worship, he is also more involved in that aspect of church life.

Walter awaits his favourite season of the year – winter – as he is dying to take to the slopes on his snowboard. There have already been good snowfalls but we just haven’t had the time to get up to the mountains. Rest assured we will get there. Tobias has been outfitted with new (2nd hand) ski boots – his feet have really grown in the last year. Sandra got 2nd-hand skis and boots for just SFr22/- unbelievable but true – Switzerland is the only place, i know, where you can get good quality 2nd-hand stuff for almost nothing. Walter will be getting new back protection to add to his equipment. So we are all looking to try these out.

Our 1x traditional Swiss thing we did this year was to go to the Schwingen Fest – Swiss Wrestling. It’s sort of like Sumo but with more close contact. It was fun to have gone with another Singaporean family – the kids had fun watching for a while and then spending the rest of the time “wrestling” each other.

We look forward to the new year with great anticipation… do write and tell us what has been happening / will happen for you – we await news 😉 Better yet – come visit us!

Email: mesandra @hotmail.com, hawkeyespg@hotmail.com

Have a most blessed Christmas & a fulfilling New Year!

Lots of love

Yoongz

(walter, Sandra & tobias)