Long Time No See!

Two years and two months. That's how long it's been since my last post and to be honest, until recently, I didn't even remember I had this blog. Someone, a friend, reminded me of it and I suddenly found myself missing it. I don't even know who I'm writing all this for but hey, maybe I'm writing it for myself. Maybe it's for my grandkids to read one day if blogs like this still exists in the future. Maybe it's for when I'm super old (like a hundred) and senile and can't remember what my life was like when I was young. Not that I'm that young anymore. Hah. The crazy thing is, very little has changed since my last post. I'll tell you what's changed: we moved into the new house just before Christmas in 2012 and had a lot of problems adjusting to being on our own. For one, we didn't have dependable Tarmi to cook up great food for us every night. Plus, we never had to deal with garbage, security fees, neighborhood watch (siskamling we call it here), and gas/pipe/water/leak problems. But I think we've adjusted well so far, thank God. What has also changed is that I don't have any kids in Kindergarten anymore. Princess K started 1st grade a few week ago so we're officially a preschool-free household. Is this a "yay" or an "ouch" - I can't quite decide yet. Oh, and another thing that has changed is that my brother Lance and his wife had a baby last year so I have a cute, cuddly, chubby little baby nephew named Mika Oliver. I tease my brother all the time that he is such a big fan of my daughter Mikaela, that he just cut her name short and made it for a boy. He insists this isn't the case; he's a big fan of F1 racing driver Mika Hakkinnen. Well, he can believe what he wants - I'll believe what I want. What hasn't changed: (1) My traveling - I am so blessed that my work includes traveling all the time. Over the past 2 years, aside from the obvious and usual Singapore, Hong Kong, Paris and New York, I've had the opportunity to visit London as well which I loved - though my love for New York will never be replaced by any other city in the world. (2) My obsession with TV series - I'm still a huge fan of White Collar (though my heart shattered into a million pieces when I learned that it'll end after season six - boohoo!), Hart of Dixie, Pretty Little Liars, Suits, Scandal, Grey's Anatomy, Hot in Cleveland, HIMYM (the ending was not good at all. I can't believe that's how they ended it), and a bunch of others that I religiously watch - and now I've added these American series with Kdrama. Don't wince - they're good when you find the right ones! They are sometimes so good and addictive because as it's Asian and sometimes they hit a little closer to home. Ones I've loved so far are I Hear Your Voice (just finished it at 3 in the morning - sleep be damned!), You're All Surrounded, Dream High and My Love from the Star. Emotional roller coasters - each and every one of them. I cried, laughed, panicked and swooned with the characters; (3) My writing - Book no. 2 still has not been published; what's changed is that I am not sad about it anymore. Sometimes, you just have to realize that maybe somethings are not meant to be. Maybe one day I'll just do a blog of short stories and see where that goes. Being a writer doesn't always mean the end-game is to be published. That's not the route for every writer on the planet, and I'm OK with that. I really am. I'm still so super into writing that I find myself replying to office emails with twists and hyperbolic statements. Case in point: an email I wrote to a colleague earlier today, "Dear so and so, I'm have a memory capacity issues these days - what's not recent gets put into a hard drive in my brain and locked into storage my brain's attic. I need hints and clues to extract them as the storage boxes are pretty dusty with spider webs all over them." - I don't know if she found this hilarious or borderline insane, but whatever. I need an outlet for these thoughts somehow, and I guess my friends just need to be able to deal with it. (4) My kids - They're still as amazing as ever. They change everyday of course, learning new things, growing up, finding new ways to amuse me and Mike. But they are still the same cheeky, happy little kids who warm up my heart with every smile. Matt is obsessed with Godzilla at the moment and made a home movie called Mattzilla where he's the Godzilla, stomping all over Jakarta - haha. K is so girlie these days that she sits in front of the mirror and does make-up tutorials, although she forbids me to post anything on YouTube. I wouldn't want to, but I just like to tease her and say I will. So - that's about it folks. I've missed out on writing this blog for more than 2 years, but now you're all caught up! xx