Mosman and Cottlesloe Beach

15 June in Perth. After we rented the car from Avis at the airport and toured Fremantle, we were treated to amazing views and creatures at Mosman Beach and Cottlesloe Beach. 

We were in time to catch the sunset. :) No photo editing done! 

The sea breeze was chilling to the bones, but the beauty of the beaches made it worth the pain. 

Young man pointed out that the blue creature is the Portuguese man of War, whatever that is.

Got car. Fremantle.

We got a car! Yay, now we can drive to wherever we like!

It's a cold and rainy day in Perth. Temperatures dropping to 12 degrees in the day time. We headed for an indoorsy place - Fremantle!

Treasure kept chasing this poor bird!

Behind the scenes of a stylish photo shoot:

The old Victorian architecture in Fremantle is beautiful:

The girls were delighted by a playground set among high trees:

Surprises!

We landed in Perth on the midnight of 14 June.

Beautiful plan conjured in the mind:
Upon at airport, collect rental car, drive to Air B&B apartment, bathe, and sleep!

Painful truth played out in reality:
None of us brought our driving license, so the rental car company did not allow us to rent the car. Lady at the counter was fierce and not helpful. She was eyeballing us. We were too tired, so we took a cab to the Air B&B apartment, bathed and slept! Cab driver was friendly and nice.

Apartment was well equipped with food, games, books, toys and ample space. One problem: It's winter. Super cold. Heater weak. Queenie thought we switched on the air con. *shiver*

Next day in reality:
Woke up. Yummy breakfast by the young man. *nomnom*. Toasted baguette with butter slices. Went to another car rental company. Showed licence on SingPass app. ACCEPTED! SUCCESSFULLY RENTED CAR!

NOW, LET THE HOLIDAYS BEGIN!!

Weak heater that doesn't even look the part-

Looking good, girls!

A photoshoot at Fuyong estate playground and a hike to the Singapore Quarry.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Hokkaido!

Ho, ho, ho, Hokkaido, turned out to be a really co, co, cold place! We are talking about temperatures plummeting to -8 degrees celcius at night!

But the co, co, cold produced sn, sn, snow! Weeeee.....!

Check out the scenes we caught once we landed at Sapporo, Chitose! They are like scenes out of a Doraemon cartoon. So magical! Better than Disneyland, because they are all real. (Indoor shots are of Changi Airport and in-flight scenes.) 

My Two Little Dolls

I took this video in 2014, during Chinese New Year. That is four years ago. I experienced a wave of panic as I watched this video. Scores of questions raced through my mind:

Who are these girls? Gosh, they are Treasure and Queenie?! Why do they look like dolls? How did I manage to give birth to dolls?! What happened from the time I took this video to now?! How did time slip away like that!? What am I going to do now, now that I know time is slipping away! Oh no, they are no longer small kids. They are big now! I will never see these two dolls again! Did I realise I had two dolls when they were still so small? Will I miss their today many years later, like what I am doing now?

The Magic in Growing

For the first time in my life, I managed to plant something that grew relatively big! I'm referring to the tall flohurishing black eye bean plant in the centre. One could easily be mistaken to think I'm talking about the smiling girl (Treasure).

With kids, you get to try new things, like growing plants. This is something I would not have done on my own.

We started out throwing the beans on cotton pads and watering them. I wished with all my might that these were magic beans that would grow into one giant... Pop group. OK, lame joke.

The magic was in watching a small bean produce a sprout, a stalk, a plant and now, I can't wait to see what it would turn into.

I also can't wait to see what Treasure would turn into. She used to be a grumpy, whiny baby and toddler. Now, she's a cheerful, easy-going and creative little girl. She still surprises me with her talent in drawing, in coming up with funny jokes and her endearing love for her stuffed toys.