Doei oma and opa

Tonight, we say goodbye to Oma after spending 4 weeks with us and to Opa, while he goes on his leave. We spent the day together at a beach. Ha ha. Yes, we love hanging out at the beach and preferably far away from the maddening crowd. This morning, we drove into a little town called Zikreet, in the west. A very isolated and a forgotten town that may have been bustling and thriving in the past. The sea was, as usual, never disappointing but the landscape behind us was quite amazing, with distinctive rock formations and herds of camels roaming leisurely and freely.

What can I say ... we love the beach!

This was the rocky landscape that was behind us ...

Camels, unperturbed by our presence

Such a sweet moment seeing a baby camel with its mother ...

As usual, Sera goes looking for food. This time, she shares a cup cake with opa

I washed Sera with a bottle of mineral water and she happy and relieved to rid herself of the sand and saltiness, thereafter refusing to step on the sand again

Accident report

Just over 2 months in school and Sera came back with an 'Accident Report' yesterday. Well, it was a little dramatized in my opinion but I thought it was hilarious. Not only was it formally typed out, it was signed by three witnesses - the principal, the nurse and Sera's school teacher. And I even have to sign it and return it to the receptionist for proper documentation. Needless to say, Johan's mom and I had a very good laugh when we read the report together, and Sera ... she was very nonchalant about the whole accident. Read the report below and have a good laugh!

Click on report to get a better read

Into the desert

The desert trip actually did happen despite Johan staying in bed for an entire day on Thursday. He woke up Friday morning without a trace of any sickness in his body, all fired up and raring to go. Johan's mom, unfortunately, was still unwell so we left her behind to rest. Sorry mom, I still feel lousy for going ahead without you!

This desert trip was a very long awaited one for me, since the day I arrived in Doha. Back then, we didn't venture to the desert because I was five months pregnant. And after Sera was born, we didn't want to go until we were sure it was safe enough for her, since we heard the drive was a little bumpy. So, finally, nearly 2 years after we landed in Doha and 17 months after Sera was born, we made it to the desert. Ha ha. What's the big deal? Well, I guess it's not such a big deal but you know, I just wanted to see it for myself ... and decide if it was as good as it was so hyped up about.

The drive to the Inland Sea in the desert took us over 2 hours. The ride was bumpy, as expected. I was only worried for Sera but she had a great time, especially when the car got bumpy. She was raising her arms and going "Ya-ahhh ... ya-ahhh ... ya-ahhhh". And she didn't mind that her head was swaying from right to left, it just tickled her even more. Johan, the designated and very capable (ahem!) driver, did very well ... going up and down the dunes with no hiccups. So once again, we spent another leisurely day by the beach. Sera had a good time, the sand didn't upset her as much and by the end of the day, she was at peace and feeling very comfortable walking around the bare feet on the beach.

Johan took us safely into and out of the desert.

The two cars in front of us were part of the convoy ... here we are, going down one of the dunes

Here's Sera enjoying the bumpy ride, the bumpier it got, the more excited she became

We're checking out the Saudi Arabia border just across the sea

A different week, a different beach ...

Opa resting and watching while the others slide or run down the dune

Sera and Indy playing inside the boat

End of the day, a little tired but very contented ...

A sick family

Be warned. This post starts off a little gross, and then there is an anti-climax, followed by a depressing ending. And there are no photos, just text!

It started with Sera, Monday night, after we put her to bed. She woke up a few minutes later, threw up her entire dinner on her mattress. Incredible gross because I could see all the ingredients of my lovely quiche I had made for dinner. Sera was so drowsy and sleepy, she simply crouched over her pillow and carried on sleeping. I cleaned up, as best as I could, the sheets and the mattress. Sera was fast asleep when I left her room. Johan was going to sleep with her that night because I was running a low grade fever and my throat was swelling up. I popped two panadols and went to bed.

Next morning, Tuesday. Sera wakes me up, wearing only a diaper that was practically falling to her knees. I carried her up unto our bed and we sleep in for another 5 minutes, until I got a strong, stale smell coming from her. The gross part begins here on. Pieces of her dinner were stuck on her hair and dried smudges of most likely vomit were on her face. I quickly got out of bed, with her in my arms and walked to her room. Poof! Her room smelt bad ... rotten. I quickly inspected her bathroom, and it was painful to all the senses. A pile of soiled pyjamas and Johan's own clothes thrown into the bath-tub over all her bath toys. Yucks! Apparently, Sera had kept Johan up all night. The strange thing was that Sera was looking very okay. She was her normal spirited self and even finished her bowl of cereal and a kiwi for her breakfast. So that is why I decided she was fit enough to go to school, in case anyone is wondering why she didn't just stay home.

I dropped her off at school. She was, as usual, happy to be at school. Johan's mom and I went for a painting class, about 30 minutes from Sera's school. Everything was going well until I get a call from Sera's school.

Woman: "I'm calling from Creative Child. Is this Sera's mother?" (in a really chirpy tone)

Me: "Yes ... " (Anxiety is fast setting in)

Woman: "Miss Kathleen has asked me to call you because Sera has been crying all morning and is very sick. Please come and collect her." (Still in a very upbeat tone)

I don't even remember what I replied, maybe something like "Ok!" but so many thoughts were running through my head as I told Johan's mom we had to go, packed up my stuff and said a hasty goodbye to everyone. Firstly, I thought "What an absolutely horrible mother I was for bringing Sera to school, knowing she threw up the night before!" But she was so fine in the morning? What happened? As I drove as safe as I could towards her school, I thought of Johan. He was going to be soooooooooooooooooo mad at me for bringing Sera to school. GULP! I looked at Johan's mom on my right and she looked worried and was very quiet. I just prayed all the way to her school that she wasn't feeling as bad as the woman on the phone made it sound.

I ran all the way to her classroom, opened the door and frantically looked for Sera. I found her running around with Kelyan, smiling ... looking very pink and healthy and not at all sick! Huh????!!!! Miss Kathleen walked up to me, a little puzzled and then realised what had happened. "Oh no, she called the wrong mother!" It took me a while to realise the mistake. I was holding on to Sera by then, still a little shaky and my breathing was much calmer. Miss Kathleen goes out to the reception and tersely informed 'Miss Sunshine' that she had called the wrong mother. "Sara's mother, not Sera's mother!"

Miss Kathleen apologises repeatedly but I told her it was all right. As long as Sera was fine, nothing else mattered. So I walked out of her classroom, managed a smile at the apologetic but still ridiculously happy receptionist, sighed a huge relief together with Johan's mom in the car, and drove back home. Now how crazy was that?

Moving on from Tuesday to this morning, Thursday. Sera missed school this morning just because she hasn't been eating well since last Tuesday afternoon. I think she may be battling a stomach virus. She's still active but her appetite has dropped to nothing much. Thus I decided no school for her. Anyway, I came back from yoga class and I saw Johan's car parked, not even at his usual spot, outside our house. Something was definitely wrong here! I walked into the house, no Johan in sight but a very messy house courtesy of Sera and a very tired- looking oma. Johan's mom informs me that Johan is very sick, threw up and was in bed, asleep. Oh no! And she also saidthat she wasn't feeling too well herself. Something was wrong with her tummy, that was making her feel ill. I forced her to her bedroom to rest while I looked after Sera. I popped in to check on Johan, took his temperature (yup, he has a fever) and gave him one panadol.

So currently, Sera is asleep, so are Johan and his mom. The house is very quiet. I'm sitting here, a little baffled by all the sickness and viruses going on? Sigh ... one of those days. Hopefully, I'll be back with happier news.

A day at the beach

The weather was too good to stay indoors yesterday, so we spent the day at Sealine beach soaking in the sun and cool breeze. Perfect! We didn't hang out by the pool this time but headed to the sandy beach. Sera has yet to discover the joy of sand. Ha ha. She was completely and utterly distressed that the sand was getting into her sandals and then realised that the sand stays on her feet ... and hands. She was literally standing in the sand, complaining loudly for all to hear on the beach, like a little 'princess'. She only stopped complaining when we finally cross the stretch of sand, and into the cool water. Once in the water, she forgot all about the sand, happily floating at the shoreline, picking up little pebbles and rocks.

After lunch, we found a nice shady spot under a palm tree, laid on the grass while Sera went wild chasing the birds or cheekily sneaking up on other beach-goers. We had an absolutely lazy but wonderful day.

Sera and oma playing by the seashore

Sera sat at the same spot on the sand for the longest time, until I finally took her in for a dip. She just did not want her feet to touch the sand.


She loved the extra buoyancy that the salt water gave her

A very unhappy Sera who was upset with so many things - sand on her feet, on her hands, her cookie and on her face.

After she stuck out her hands for me to brush off the sand, she was a little happier, leaned on Johan and nibbled on her cookie

The look of hunger

She had the most fun on the grass, running around with not a care in the world

After a short nap, he played a little football

Sera imitating us drinking water from the plastic bottle ... the cap is on so she's really just pretending

Out with the mermaid ... in with Plan B

Remember the failed mermaid costume? Well, we came up with costume plan B. Costume plan B was nearly cost-free, very comfortable, very Sera (and very me!), and most importantly very cute, in my opinion. Ha ha. I pieced together a few items - one oversized combat pants (gift from a neighbour), one white singlet, boots (borrowed from Gaston), black eye-shadow (this, I had to buy but I figured I'd use it for myself one fine day) ... and what do we have? G.I. Sera!

All I can say is ... Sera loved the outfit, most especially the 3-size too big boots (are you surprised?). We had a dress rehearsal for Johan (he couldn't make it for the 'Trick or Treat' session) and she was happily stomping around in the boots, like a real soldier. Phew! A costume good enough for her.

The three little friends gathered at our place for a ra-ra session before the 'Trick or Treat'. We tried to get a photo of them together, quite impossible really! We set off at 6pm, happy, excited and full of energy ... ready to go round the compound. Kids of all ages were having a blast, zig-zagging from one house to the next, competing to get their buckets filled up. I'm not sure if Sera, Gaston and Keylan understood why those kind adults were giving them sweets that they'll probably never get to eat, but they just went along with the flow and had fun picking out the sweets and dropping them into their buckets. Trick or Treat ended an hour later with three very relieved mothers and three very happy and maybe clueless over all the commotion kids.

Absolutely no cooperation from these three when it came to taking photos. So now, I have no choice but to present three photos in which one of them is looking at the camera. First up, Sera.

Kelyan with the sexiest puckered lips!

And Gaston with a big smile!

Sera dancing to 'Wheels on the bus' while the other two boys go ... "errrr, what's up with her?"

Special treats from uncle Teddy and auntie Amy

Sera, getting treats from a mother-daughter duo

Not sure what's with the marshmallow in her mouth, but here's Sera with the big boys getting getting their treats

The gang goes to the Zoo

No school on Wednesday morning for Sera, Gaston and Kelyan so that meant 'Think of ways to occupy active toddlers' moment for the mothers three. To the zoo, of course ... where else? We visited the zoo 7 months ago when Sera was 8 months old, still stroller-bound. All I remember of the zoo visit then was one of sadness for the animals. Ok, I was having a melodramatic moment then, feeling that the zoo could have been better in so many ways. I was a little enraged, even thought of writing to the local paper. That thought never became more than that. So this second visit to the zoo, I was a little more prepared for what I could expect to experience ... and it was as expected, a lot more sadness and despair for the animals. Sigh ... this post is getting a little depressing huh.

Anyway, we made the best of it. We amused ourselves and tried to enthuse the kids with the one chimpanzee, one leopard, one jaguar, two tigers, two lions and what else, err ... and an overpopulation of monkeys behind the very small cages. There were also some zebras, some deer, giraffes, one elephant and one rhinoceros in pretty grass-less fenced up areas (ok, ok I will stop harping about the bad conditions). The weather was a little hot so the kids were either sleeping, sleepy, lethargic or bored. The two highlights of the zoo trip for them was probably the time they were let out of the stroller and having ice cream at the end of the trip. We had fun, nonetheless, really.


Start of the trip ... one is already bored, one is feeling hot and one is fast asleep

Two adorable monkeys ...

Zebras, appearing to be a little sun burned

Kelyan and Sera having fun on a stool

Sera and oma enjoying each other's company

The mothers pose while the kids have a chat with each other

The reluctant little mermaid

I think 'reluctant' is too mild a word. It was more like the little mermaid morphing to the 'Incredible Hulk'. Yesterday afternoon, we had a pre-Halloween costume party for the children. As a child, I've never celebrated this holiday just because it's more commonly celebrated in the western parts of the world. It's nothing significant to me or the family but I thought it would be fun for Sera to join in the fun. I couldn't have been more wrong!

A few days ago, the mothers (Manuela, Slyvie and myself) went in search of the perfect and cutest costumes. Not much of a choice, but I thought I found the costume. A little mermaid costume, which I thought would look adorable on Sera. I avoided all the 'princess' costumes, just because it was too girl-y for my taste, if that makes any sense to you. Oma made some adjustments to the costume and it was just perfect! The only problem was that Sera hated it. I mean, she practically ran away from it when she saw it. And when I managed to pull it over her, she screamed like there was no tomorrow! She did the 'Incredible Hulk' antic of pulling and tugging the costume, and I was like screaming at her to stop or that would be the end of the cute little costume. How crazy ... how disappointing!

I was, admittedly, a little crushed that she didn't like the costume. I felt even worse for her oma, who spent hours making adjustments to the costume. Anyway, I thought I'd just try again for the actual day, which was yesterday and guess what? Nah, she still hated it. Shucks! She wore it long enough for a group photo with Gaston and Kelyan. She tried to tear off the dress during the drive to the party but the car seat straps restricted her movements. We arrived at the party and within seconds, she was pulling off the straps, pushed down the costume to her feet and YIPEEEEEE, she was a semi naked child, free from the 'horrible' costume. I accepted defeat, got out her jeans and t-shirt and got her covered up.

I can't say this isn't my fault, this aversion to costumes. You see, I remember vividly how I protested when my nursery teacher tried to make me wear costumes during costume day. I refused, I just wanted to stand and watch the other kids get dressed up. Secretly, I thought they all looked really funny and I was just relieved I was spared the embarrassment. Could a 4 year old really think that way? Yes, I truly did. And now, I see myself in Sera. Totally. So yesterday, while the other children pranced and played in the costumes, she observed, sometimes stood by the side, randomly touching their costumes. I know she had a great time, just in her own way.

Kelyan, the giraffe. Sera, the mermaid, and Gaston the Skeleton. Sera put up a struggle while we pulled the costume over her, thus the hot and sweaty look.

Standing and watching ...

Sera, by the side, while the other children posed for a group photo

This is painful for me ... but this was the other mermaid who won best costume (little girl category). 'sob'

Visiting papa at work

This morning, we (opa, oma, Sera and I) paid Johan a visit at his work site at the industrial city of Ras Laffan. I was excited just because after nearly two years here, I finally get to see what he does 12 hours a day. I have to say, the work itself is impressive and it's hard to describe the extent of it until you actually see it for yourself. So if I say they are expanding an existing LNG port, a person outside this field would say, 'a-huh'. But trust me, the entire project is a complicated, systematic and highly technical process. And I know won't do justice to the work with mere words.

Sera, on the other hand, had a ball! She was ecstatic upon seeing Johan, ran to him with open arms when she realised the long car ride led to seeing her papa at work. She played hide-and-seek with us, said 'Hi' to every person she saw, ran along the corridors, and tried to enter every office we passed. I had a privileged tour to one of the backhoe dredgers, which required us to take a ride on a speed boat (honestly, the highlight of the morning for me). Sera, of course, didn't join us. Instead she was taking a nap in the car while opa and oma continued the land tour of the site.

We had a really good lunch at the camp site, after which we drove back to Doha.

Sera was the first to get up, waiting for the adults to get ready. By the way, completely irrelevant, but check out those feet ... those toes of hers.


That's Johan and his corner of the room. He spends half the day in the office and the other out on site


Just recently, Sera started to 'smile' when we say smile for the camera. It's hilarious watching her scrounge up her face like that but how do I tell her not to smile that way?

Johan, the 'sea cow boy' ...

I have to say, quite a funny photo. Firstly, that hard hat was giving me a headache and those safety boots (borrowed from one of the female colleagues), which I wore sock-less were an inch and a half too big.

Mom and toddler gym class

Every Monday afternoon, Sera and Gaston go for toddler gym classes. The children go on a circuit of different gym apparatus that basically develop their motor development, among other things. Huh? What? Just know that it looks like lots of fun. Sera, well ... she is a little resistant when it comes to taking part in the circuit, unlike most of the children who nicely line up and go through the circuit with genuine interest and enthusiasm. Sera, the little 'non-conformist' (don't anyone dare say it's because of me!), doesn't understand why she needs to line up for her turn and has yet to discover the fun in repeating the circuit over and over. All she really wants is to run around the gym, play with the big sponge shapes in the middle and check out what the other children. So I just let her be if that makes her happy.

So anyway, this past Monday, Johan came along for the gym class, thus I was able to take a few photos of Sera when she attempted the circuit for the first few minutes. After that, we let her run free ... to do as she pleased.

On the balancing beam ...

Weeeeeeeeeee ....

She's a little young for the parallel bars, but she attempted the first part, which is to hang on to the bar with her hands. The next part would be to swing her legs unto the next bar, release her hands and dangle like a monkey. Yah, maybe the next session ...

Sera and Gaston jumping on the trampoline. Gaston loves the trampoline, he can really jump. Sera, on the other hand, hasn't figured out the art of jumping. She 'jumps' with her arms and a face that looks like she's jumping but her feet are still planted firmly on the ground. She'll get it ... one day ...