Playing aunty

My sis came back to Malaysia for the first time in 10 years with my nephews. She came back mostly to see our dad. And it's been a long time since he saw his grandchildren. In fact, he's never met the younger boy.

It was Chinese New Year, and a perfect time to get together with family. So I took a few days off and played tour guide and "Ah Ee" to the kids. The last time I saw them was 8 years ago in Sydney, during my final year in uni. There was only Shane then. And Scott was in my sister's tummy.

Shane's twelve now and Scott's seven.
And over the 11 days they were here, I was torn between smothering them with kisses. Or a big heavy pillow.

They were boisterous.
Fussy eaters.
Spoilt.
Demanding.
Whiney and rude.
All rather normal behaviour for some kids.
But I found my patience and tolerance thoroughly tested. If I was ever doubtful about ever wanting to have kids, they sealed the deal for me. Gosh. If they were my own I dunno what I'd do. I can't lock them up in a kennel like I do Sunshine.

Hmmm...

Anyway.
Behaviour aside, they're both very intelligent kids. Super cute. And they can be super charming. I mean, look at their faces. How to stay angry with them?

We spent a lot of time doing the touristy thing. Going up KL Tower. Wandering around KLCC. We even ate durians at KLCC park. You should've seen how the boys wrenched their faces when their mom indulged in them smelly morsels. I had to bribe them to try some.

On the second day of CNY, we drove down to Singapore where we stayed with my cousin for a few days. The kids and I spent time playing basketball at my cousin's apartment, along with her daughter Zoe, who's grown so much since I last saw her. She's practically a lady now (Snowie, that's your cupcake she's holding).

We swam in the pool. Watched DVDs. Did some shopping. And went to the Night Safari, as well as the Singapore Zoo (REALLY NICE). My cousin always made sure there were places to go, or things to do, and great things to eat. Oh, we ate heaps.

I got to drive around quite alot too. But just as I was getting familiar with Singaporean roads, it was time to go home. I even drove to A & K's place on another part of the island one night, which was such a lovely drive.

After we got back to KL, it was some last minute shopping, more last minute durian eating for my sis and we visited our grandma's grave. We had a nice lunch (wah, Lemon Garden at Shangrila, second time this holiday, mann), thanks to my aunt. Before we knew it, they were packing their suitcases.

My sis and the kids finally flew back to Sydney early yesterday morning. But not before staying up to play Monopoly until it was time for us to leave for the airport at 3am. The elder boy had so much energy, it was tiring just to watch him.

What a huge relief... But I started missing them quite abit, despite myself. The monsters emailed me not long after they arrived in Sydney, and that put a smile to my face.

My dad was really sad to see them go though. He cried a little at the airport when they left, and that was quite painful to see. Well, we don't know when they'll be coming back again.

So now I'm recovering from the long distance driving as well as lack of sleep from the past week. But my broadband is finally up. Gosh, after all this time, I finally gave up on dial-up. It's great. Wireless too, no less! Heh :) Need to fiddle and twiddle with my computer. It's like having a new toy. Yippeeee!