Prototyping, Feedback and Ferguson

Since, we learnt about rapid prototyping and learning faster by failing early at work, we've embraced this concept with a vengeance.

I'm always always at some stage of prototyping at work.

I LOVE but also HATE prototyping. (Why is everything love-hate for me?)

I love how much we learn through the process of prototyping. I love how the process of prototyping draws from the wisdom and experience of the people who try our prototypes out. In a recent game we had developed, the prototyping experience provided so many ideas and solutions that really contributed to the growth and complexity of our final product.

But I also hate it.

I find receiving feedback so difficult. Even when the idea is still at its nascent stage. Even when I haven't spent that much time developing the idea.

I once shared, in an auditorium filled with people, that one of the things we've learnt in our team was not to hold on too dearly to our ideas. With rapid prototyping, your ideas can be thrown out in a jiffy. Cardboard prototypes you put together, can get thrown into the recycling bin even before the fine paperknife-cuts on your fingers begin to heal.

I understand all this cognitively. I just haven't been able to grasp it emotionally.

Every negative feedback that is given, is like a knife that stabs me through the heart! Even if I spent only the last 10 minutes putting the prototype together. Even if I know that I haven't thought about it enough. It still feels like Jack the Ripper is shredding through my torso.

It is painful.

It takes all the focus and determination in me, not to react to the initial sting of the negative feedback and go on the defensive.

Sometimes I wished I were more like David Beckham. Apparently, according to Alex's Ferguson latest biography, David was the only player he had every coached who was totally unaffected by his mistakes.

"He could have the worst game possible and still not believe that he had under-performed in any way. He would dismiss you, tell you you were wrong. He was incredibly protective of himself.......You had to admire that. In a way it was a great quality. No matter how many mistakes he would make (in my eyes, not his), he would always want the ball. His confidence never suffered."

Well, ok not exactly like Beckham, but a stronger shield to protect myself would be useful. Instead, I usually feel bruised and upset. And it takes a lot of focus to open myself to the feedback, the ideas behind the "This was so not fun" or "This was too difficult" or "It's crazy that you think this is possible". But not too open, that it leads me to believe that everything is negative and everything is beyond redemption.

Before you get the wrong impression, let me clarify, as I had to the Abang-cashier at Times when I picked up Ferguson's autobiography- I am NOT a fan. I was just curious.

He looked at me, grimaced and under his breath muttered ,"Liverpool". With MUCH DISDAIN!

Ipin in Man U kit and Ihsan in Liverpool kit. My dad actually said to Irfan ," Why are you wearing Man U? Wait, Atok throw you into the dustbin".
Yes, the family is that serious in its allegiance to Liverpool!

Look, the truth is, I am NO football fan. I have some allegiance to Liverpool, but its largely because my dad and brother are fans. Ok, so maybe I am a sort-of fan. I did buy Liverpool kits for my boys when I was in London last year and flatly refused to buy Man United kits that hubby had requested. And yes, i do celebrate, quietly, a little bit, when Man U doesn't do so well in a match. (Please don't hate me Red Devil friends). But really, I'm not a fan.

I picked up the book and paid $39 bucks for it because I was curious. I really was. I do think that Ferguson was a successful football manager and I wanted to hear what he had to say.

To  be honest, I didn't appreciate all of it mostly because he talked a lot about matches that Man United played (I hardly watched any), and players he had recruited, sold, etc. I only know players who are good-looking or if they are Spanish. E.g. Iniesta is not good looking but Spanish, so i know him. Actually, that's not true. I know Rooney, and he's neither good-looking nor Spanish. (Who cares if you're not good looking if you're a multi-million dollar footballer with a solution to your receding hairline?)

But I did enjoy the book in general. It game me a sense of the man. How important football was to him. How important the club was to him. What the club meant. What it stood for.

It was also interesting to read his thoughts about some of his players. How he selected them. What he looked for. Players that weren't only talented, but fit into the tradition of the club. That had the character to stand tall in the eyes of the club. That could handle the pressure that came with being a Man United player.

I know it wasn't meant to be a management guidebook, but there were some gems hidden between the pages of the book. A lot of it, for me was about character- knowing and protecting the character of the club (or organisation), knowing how to bring the best out of your team (when to call it quits with a player) and knowing your own character as a leader, what you stand for, what you are willing to sacrifice and what you are never going to tolerate.

While, I was blowing on the mental wounds, post-prototype today, I thought about Ferguson.  

Football managers are always trying out new configurations. In an intense league like the EPL, you have players that get injured or need to be rested, and you just have to try new stuff out. They study the game, they strategise and then hope for the best.

And if doesn't turn out great, the media and fans, they slaughter you.

"I couldn't allow the press conference to become a torture chamber. It was my duty to protect the dignity of the club and all that we were doing. it was important to be on the front foot and control the conversation as much as possible.

Before I went through that door to face the world, I trained myself, prepared myself mentally. Experience helped."

Obviously right now, the feedback during prototypes is about the work, the ideas. Not about me. It's never been personal. Not yet.

But at some point, in my future, I could be receiving feedback that is personal that may suggest, I'm not good enough. I'm not doing my job well. That I'm the problem.

Obviously, today- I'm not ready for that sort of feedback. In fact, some of my colleagues witnessed me disintegrating into shambles, in an episode earlier this year, which involved feedback that I took very personally.

I'll obviously never be a Beckham (Although, he could just be masking his vulnerabilities. Ferguson doesn't think so though. Ok anyone that looks THAT scrumptious in nothing but Armani briefs, can't have any insecurities right? Ok i believe Ferguson). But i could learn to protect myself a little more.

And maybe, hey people! It may be useful to remind ourselves when giving feedback even when it's for an idea that is still in its nascent stages, that someone gave birth to the idea, no matter how silly and it takes some courage to ask for feedback. So be gentle. We shouldn't sugar-coat everything so that the feedback disappears in all the sweetness, but we don't have to be so direct, that it cuts either.

Perth in 10 days with 8 adults, 3 kids and 1 uber cute little baby- Our Road Trip!

Way too many things happening...too little time to Blog. I was reminded today by the hubs, that it's exactly been a month since our trip to Perth. So, I guess, it's a perfect time to reminisce about our lovely road-trip...

Our Road Trip Itinerary.

After 4 days in Perth, we headed down South...all the way down to Albany before shooting back up to Perth.

We started down South and stopped at Mandurah, which is a surreal little town, with houses and their very own Marina. We had great sun for a bit, and then it rained the rest of the day. Our stop at Bunbury had to be cancelled because of the heavy rain. Instead, we stocked up on snacks and drove on till our stop at Busselton. Checked in, had fish and chips, settled in and had an early night!

Oooh....the twins did end up jumping up and down on our bed after dinner and vomited ALL over our bed. Aussie service staff are amazing when it comes to these things. They were so nice about it. In Singapore, if one of my boys vomit, there's usually a very silent but noticeable,  'SIIIGGGHHHH' or 'EEEERRRKKK' followed by some evil looks thrown our way. So I was so pleasantly surprised. It was the same on another occasion when Ipin threw up at a supermarket. People around were so nice, called for the staff to clean up, and they were so nice about it. I felt soooooo loved!

Anyways...

Busselton

The next morning, there was a little bit of rain and then gorgeous sunshine. While the rest of the family lumbered out of bed, I braved my little heart, and took the three handsome little boys out to the beach. Direct access to the beach, was after all why I chose to stay at the Bayview Geographe Resort.

I think my mum was quite worried that I'd end up losing at least one. What with, my little Ipin, loving to just run off into the wilderness not worrying that he'd lose us forever!

I did tell them though, that they had to stick near me, because the SHARKS were out there and at anytime one, would jump out of the sea and bite their legs off. Yes...I am that sort of mother. I will resort to lies and threats if need be.

They were surprisingly well-behaved.
Maybe it was because they were just adjusting to the cold cold winds!

It was a beautiful beach and a lovely morning!

We did not at any one time take the good weather for granted.
Just in the horizon, rain clouds loomed sending us warning of the coming showers! 

I rushed the boys back after we mucked around for a bit. We needed to get the whole house out an about before the rain stopped us from enjoying the Busselton Geographe area.

The highlight of the area was definitely Busselton Jetty. It's the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, going out as far as 2km out into the sea. It had recently been reopened after a fire had destroyed parts of the jetty.

The boys loved taking the little tram-train on the jetty. We were all glad we decided to take the little train, as it started to rain and the wind made it very very cold. 

Upin refusing to pose for the camera. He turned away on purpose!

Our lil family, all bundled up nice and warm!

It was a beautiful day, despite the intermittent rain!

Dunsborough

After frolicking by the Jetty, we drove South towards Dunsborough to check out the Cape Naturaliste lighthouse. The drive was so beautiful as it was a meandering road along fields lush full of wild-flowers.

When we got there, we bought tickets, listened intently to instructions on how to get to the light-house. And proceeded to get lost.

We ended up instead walking on one of the hiking trails which led to a whale-watching spot.
The walk was lovely, although futile- as we realised we were walking further and further away from the lighthouse. But the wonderful thing was that the boys fell asleep as we walked!

Hubs checking out the view as we walked the WRONG way to the lighthouse.

We finally found our way to the lighthouse.

Ipin was still asleep, so only 2 handsome guys here. It's funny. They look cold!

My brother and our uber culte lil baby- just chilling. What we enjoyed doing most while we were in Perth!

It was a really successful day. Besides the lighthouse, we managed to head to the Margaret River Chocolate Factory for some indulgence. Best part about it was that my boys were asleep. So we left them snoozing in the car with my father, while hubs and I went in bought chocs and enjoyed some hot chocolate...without the boys!

I mean, I do love my boys....but it's nice when they're quietly asleep too! Okay, it's more than nice, it's FABULOUS when they're fast asleep! hehehe...

Oh my, I really am missing Perth....Stay tune for the next installment. It's when the kids go wild at Willy Wonky's Windmill Farm!

Perth in 10 days with 8 adults, 3 kids and 1 uber cute little baby- Irfan and his little pig

Obviously, a trip to Perth is never complete without a trip to the weekend markets in Fremantle, or Freyo, as the locals call it.

Boys in the rain-cover, cos the wind was seriously chilly!

I was absolutely excited about our trip to Freyo on Sunday because Jess was going to spend the day with us. Jess- is a fellow Marymount-aineer. We met on my first day at Marymount Secondary School. She sat next to me and we hit it off at once.

Along with 2 others, we formed the US4 clique in school. Lol...we were seriously cool. I went to my very very first musical ever with Jess. It was to watch Cats at Kallang Theatre. We seriously went cuckoo over the musical, memorising songs, learning the dance steps, watching 'Cats' documentaries over and over again. We tried several stunts from the musical, to the extent that once, she broke her mom's glass wardrobe doors because she was trying to do a flip!

Jess and I, celebrating 21 years of friendship over the best coffee I had during my entire stay in Perth!

So, I was obviously excited to spend some time with her. Did I have foolish thoughts that we would break into a rendition of 'A heart full of love' from Les Mis? No. Sonia, may have entertained me. Jess, would have just rolled her eyes at me and laughed! She was much more mature that way!

What wasn't so exciting was the crying that was happening during our car rides. By that morning, on the way to Freyo, I had come to the conclusion that no matter what, there will always be one twin screaming and yelling his head off in the car. That morning, it was Irfan. He didn't want to follow us, preferring to stay at home to watch cartoons. So he cried all the way from Canningvale to Freyo. All 30 mins of the drive!

Luckily for us, the crying stopped when we arrived. And we got to enjoy our day in Freo, in the wonderful glorious Sun!

Stuff I adored about our day in Freo!

1. The Food! 

There were these tiny little cupcakes that the boys went nuts over. And they were just the perfect size for the boys too! Ihsan gave much grief to the cupcake lady, when he pointed to the cupcake he wanted from the display window, and insisted that he was given the one he was pointing at. She had to shuffle cupcakes away, just to get the one that he was pointing at, which obviously was the one right by the glass!

Thrilled with their cupcakes. Ihsan had picked a chocolate one with little colourful balls of sugar and Irfan chose a banana cupcake!Thrilled with their cupcakes. Ihsan had picked a chocolate one with little colourful balls of sugar and Irfan chose a banana cupcake!

These Gozlemes were really very very good!

Hubs thrilled about some Acai thing he got which was apparently super cheap compared to the stuff he gets at Evolve Gym here in SG.

Churros from Chocolateria San Churros.....YumZ!

2. The Lawn

The lawn, which is just outside the food part of the markets was an awesome little spot. We sat ourselves in the sun and enjoyed the snacks from the markets. It was great to just watch people stream in and out of the markets. It was a nice spot to relax AND also be part of the vibe!

3. More chilling at the Park

We caught up with the rest of the party and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the Park. There was a huge playarea that kept the kids occupied, while I got major catch-up time with Jess and the uber cute little baby.

The boys also got all excited when a balloon sculptor appeared. He sculpted animal balloons for the kids. Ihsan asked for a tiger. So that's his little orange tiger and it's tail. And Irfan asked for a pig.

Yes, a pig. Irfan had just started watching episodes of Peppa Pig on Australian TV and was just absolutely besotted with her. I, too, thinks that she is a most delightful little piglet. Such wonderful manners and most impeccable diction.

You know, Muslims and pigs? I didn't really mind. And my mom jokingly asked him,"Weren't there any other animals?" To which I responded, "Pigs are God's creation too."

And that's how Irfan found a little piglet to accompany him throughout the rest of our trip in Perth!

The trip would have been perfect, if not for Ihsan crying the whole way back from Freo to the house. But we were getting quite used to that already. =)

Reflections of an Aspiring OD Practitioner

Those of you who know me well, would know that I am passionate about building my experience and finesse as a facilitator.

I'm absolutely comfortable facilitating learning or helping participants at workshops to consolidate learning. I've been practicing for some years now and feel quite confident that I am fairly competent at it. I've very much tried not to shy away from ANY opportunity to practise and I've been immensely lucky that many have been so generous with their trust and confidence in me.

What I've been very new at, in terms of facilitation, is in the area of facilitating large group conversations around, and with the objective, of improving performance, team effectiveness and culture building. In Organisation Development (OD) type conversations and interventions, I have very little experience.

What I had quickly learnt during a recent stint in OD, was that I found it immensely difficult and challenging work. I found that every time I began a journey working towards an OD intervention with a particular team or organisation, that I very quickly got 'sucked into' the issues. For example, when interviewing staff who are demoralised, I tend to start mirroring their feelings. I start feeling demoralised too. If they share their anxiety, it's as if I adopt their anxiety as my own. And i'm not even part of the organisation but yet, it becomes my own problems. Enough, that it would affect my sleep.

And in my reflections with my own teams, I learnt that I was hyper sensitive to body language, voice tonation of the people I worked with. I read people very quickly, I get a sense of the energies in the room, the tensions between people and it affects me to a large extent. It turns out, I'm a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) 

According to Dr. Aron's definition, the Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) has a sensitive nervous system, is aware of subtleties in his/her surroundings, and is more easily overwhelmed when in a highly stimulating environment. 

So I get overwhelmed...very easily (Those of you who have gone partying with me know this very well. It is the answer to why Iva is behaving like she's drunk/high, when she hasn't had a drop of alcohol to drink). The OD work I've done can be very exhausting, and taxing in a very personal way. 

So, when I completed my posting/secondment to my previous organisation, I had kinda sworn to myself, no more facilitating OD type interventions. I wanted to stay in my happy-place. I didn't want to get sucked into any more downward spirals.

But when I was approached to do this OD assignment that I completed today. I found that, despite my vow to myself just some months ago, I felt compelled to accept it. It was for an organisation that I cared for very deeply. This was about a family I have grown to love and appreciate very much. It was very much, very very much, personal.

A friend who shared with me about HSPs and told me to read the book about it, shared with me that people like me may have what it takes to be really good OD practitioners. Because very often, we look at organisational issues and challenges and tackle it with our heads. But really good OD practitioners are able to connect, emotionally too. They also use the power of their hearts, to move teams, to move organisations and to create...something. I somehow, never quite believed him.

He explained that what people like me needed to learn, was how to take care of myself. To protect my inner-self. So that I would be able to distance the work that I do with from my own personal life. That, surely, I am nowhere close to mastering.

Reflecting on what we had achieved today, which to some may not have been astoundingly much, but to us, great nonetheless, I did not regret my decision to accept this particular OD assignment. 

Although I wasn't the lead facilitator, it sure felt great, to be connected to a mission, a purpose and a bunch of people I care very much for. It felt wonderful to feel in service and in support of what they hoped to achieve. 

And it didn't feel emotionally taxing at all, although I did well up in tears twice today. Because I was so open to the experience, I wanted to embrace the feelings, downwards or upwards, fully. I wanted to be fully open. And I was prepared to being vulnerable about how important this day was to me. And how I had hoped it was just as important to them. I had a personal stake in this. 

My experience today made me reassess the promise I had made to myself to never facilitate any more OD interventions. It's planted a belief that I should make ONE exception. I should make an exceptions for organisations, teams that I truly believe in and care for. For this is really meaningful work.

And don't we all aspire to be part of a little bit of GREATness!

Perth in 10 day with 8 adults, 3 kids and 1 uber cute lil' baby- sleepy Roos and stoned Koalas!

I don't ever count Day 1 of a trip, Day 1. It's Day 0. Only because it sometimes takes the entire day to settle into the accommodation and settle rental cars, etc. You hardly get to see or do anything on the first day, hence I count it as Day 0.

And Day 0, was true to its form, a day of nothing but settling admin stuff. First, the car rental company took quite a long while. The cars were there, but the babyseats were not. And we NEEDED babyseats!

Then, we had some trouble checking into The Castle at Canningvale, a 4-storey house suitable for 8 adults, 3 kids and an uber cute little baby. The key that was left for us, was faulty and the landlady was 3 hours away! Luckily for us, mum's cousin was just a 10 min drive away, so we headed there for our late lunch and waited for the landlady to sort the key situation out.

We then learnt that it had been raining in Perth- cats and dogs. Apparently, there had been little/no rain all Winter, and the rain had come this early Spring. Shucks! We checked out the weather forecast which basically said, Rain, Rain, Sun, Rain, Rain, Rain, Some Rain, Some Sun....you get the picture. Groan!

So, we decided to keep our fingers crossed.

Our general plan for the trip was: 3 days in and about Perth, 6 days around the Southern part of Western Australia and 1 final day in Perth before flying back.

And TOP on the agenda was Caversham Wildlife Park and Kangaroos! 

We woke up to......RAIN! Just as the weather forecast had predicted. But that didn't stop us, we packed ourselves into the cars and drove 40mins North from where we were, to head to Kangaroo land!

And...blessed were we that when we arrived, we were greeted with sunshine! Even the Kangaroos were lazing about enjoying the sun!

I thought the boys would be scared. But boy, was I wrong! They basically pounced on the kangaroos.

My nephew Mik showing off the little pellets we fed the Kangaroos.

I had to run after the twins who tried to feed both kangaroos awake and kangaroos asleep!

Obviously, Caversham Wildlife Park had much more to offer than just Kangaroos. But the Kangaroos, were by far, the most popular animals at the park. I was thrilled my kids loved it, and it was nice to be able to get so up close and personal with the Roos. 

But, I'm not sure if it was because we were there in the morning, or because the sun was up, that the Kangaroos just looked really sleepy and lethargic. I guess, if you're being poked awake by 2-yr old  boys, and then have food shoved up your face everyday, you'd get pretty lazy! 

The Little Birdies, Lizards, Snakes and Possums at the Wombat and Friends show were awesome!

My family and I visited Perth when I was in Primary school, and while I don't remember any kangaroos, I definitely remembered meeting a Wombat for the very first time. But I remembered that the wombat was cute and cuddly. Here at Caversham, I wouldn't describe their biggest Wombat star as cute and cuddly. In fact, I'm still trying to get to grips with what I think about BOB. But, we still posed for a pic anyways!

It's our little family and a not so little Wombat named Bob!

 
The boys were really brave and tried to stroke every animal that could be stroked!  I was on freak out mode most of the time, as the keepers would give strict instructions about where they can touch the animals, and where they shouldn't. I wasn't as much worried about the boys as I was about the animals, but the boys surprised me. Most of the time, they were listening to instructions. When they weren't, I just used my deathly grip to control their little hands!

It's a possum of some sorts! And you can ONLY stroke it's tail! Look how my hubs is holding on to a very very Exited little Upin!

The little petting zoos were great, cos the boys got to run around and basically be boys! And what trip would be complete, without a visit to Australia's Koalas! Our boys really love animals, so they were absolutely tripping over themselves running to see Koalas. Although, you know, I'm not sure they had ever heard about a Koala before we were at Caversham.

Anyway, these little Koalas look really cute! If i hadn't seen it move a little, i'd have thought it was just Koala dolls on display- they were like sooooo stoned!

Daddy with Upin, and a Koala that looks like she's sulking! Maybe it's an introverted little Koal! hahahah!

We spent half a day at Caversham. And the rains stayed away, enough for us to even let the kids have an hour at a playground on the Wildlife park grounds.

Spot the 3 kids and the uber cute little baby! Can you guess how many of the adults are back there too? Count the pairs of legs to find out!

3 happy kids and 1 happy uber cute little baby = 8 happy adults!

So it was a great Day 1. Although, it was partially ruined by a rain-soaked cold evening at Fremantle. The Fish and Chips couldn't make up for the rain, wind and uncooperative little boys who fought over crayons all night long. I'm going to pretend the evening didn't happen!

Instead, I'm going to remember the day ending with these 4 lil chickadees and their happy faces!

Stay tuned for the next installment of 10 days in Perth, with 8 adults, 3 kids and an uber cute lil baby. It's a rainy day at the Aquarium, but all is better when the sun visits in Freo!

A sneak peek...

Perth in 10 days, with 8 adults, 3 kids and a really cute baby girl! (Introduction)

So... I'm under some pressure to get my posts on our recent family trip to Perth out. Which is a good thing, because the memories are freshly imprinted in my mind. And because, I so want to capture the wonderful (and not so wonderful memories of travelling with the terrible two-ers) memories for my boys to read, when they're old enough, I'm going to blog about it in a series of posts I've entitled ' Perth in 10 days, with 8 adults, 3 kids and a really cute baby girl!'.

Why? Read on!

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy this series, as much as I'm going to so enjoy putting it together.

_______

Our adventures must obviously start with one question and one question only- How did 8 adults, 3 kids and a baby decided they wanted to go to Perth for a holiday?

Simple.

One of my bestest friends from Secondary School had moved to Perth after her 'O's. I had never visited her even though we've kept in touch and she visits in Singapore quite often. So I decided, 2013 would be THE year, that hubs and I will bring the boys to Perth to visit. 

We thought by that time, we would have the guts to go through aiport security and custom checks, with 2 prams, 2 little fidgety boys AND suitcases. It also seemed realistic that by that time, we could imagine  spending 4-5 hours in a small confined space with our 2 very active little boys and a planeful of passengers who just want to relax and enjoy inflight entertainment, without one of three scenarios unfolding:

Scenario 1:  Boys throw uncontrollable tantrums and, Hubs and I throw ourselves out of the plane

Scenario 2:  Boys throw uncontrollable tantrums causing us to throw the twins out of the plane and 

Scenario 3: Boys throw uncontrollable tantrums, I breakdown in hysterics while hubs blocks everything out and continues to watch 'The Intership' on KrisWorld...and the other passengers throw all 4 of us out of the plane. 

In short, it would be a good time to test our mettle as parents of young twin boys.

Shared my idea with my mom, who said that she wanted to go to Perth too. She wanted to visit a cousin who had recently moved there. 'Great!' I thought. It would be great, if my mum and dad could come. It would mean much reduced probabilities of the 3 scenarios I outlined above, happening. This would be fabulous!

Then younger brother went, 'Oits! We also want to come!' His newborn would have been about 7 months. And it would be about time, both him and my sis-in-law would have emerged from the drunken stupour of (a) having plopped out a newborn into the world (my sis-in-law, not so much my brother), (b) having had to fuss over a cranky newborn day and all night and (c) having to deal with a firstborn who is going through a painful identity crises having lost his status as only-child, so very recently.

I kinda thought, 'Oh shucks, this kinda evens up the possibilities of the 3 scenarios. In fact, the odds could work against us! It could be ALL 4 of us AND our 4 kids being thrown out of a flying aircraft.

But blood is thicker than my paranoia, so it was settled then, 6 adults, 3 kids and 1 little uber cute baby girl!

Then just a few months before we were arranging for tickets. Mum mentions randomly to some of her sisters that she was headed to Perth. And one of them said, " Oits! I also want to come! And I'm bringing along my daughter".

I'm not sure whether she knew what she was getting into, when she hollered,"Oits!" Cos, when my mum told me, my aunt and my younger single cousin was coming along,  I was thinking to myself,"Are they friggin crazy? It is going to be an absolute circus with the twin terrible two terrors, a 7-month old baby who screams her head off everytime she's made to lie down and a little 3-year old boy who gets into daily scuffles with the twins.

Anyway. We warned them. Told them that we were planning an itinerary centred around keeping the kids occupied (who really cares what the adults want? Right?). And reminded them that we would not take any responsibility for any mental health issues or physical hurt they may encounter, or inflict upon themselves, if the children...or for that matter...any of the other adults...drive them mad.

Mum assured me that there was no need to ask them to sign a legal indemnity form. 

And so it was, that we embarked on our adventure of Perth in 10 days, with 8 adults, 3 kids and a baby.

Stay tuned...

In the next installment of Perth in 10 days, 8 adults, 3 kids and a really cute baby girl....

Unexpected Spring Showers initially dampen spirits but, nothing stops the party of 11 from spending some super cool time feeding super sleepy kangaroos at Caversham Wildlife Park....

A sneek peek of what's to come!....

Capture the little fleeting moments

I think it's time for me to start filling the pages of my blog again.

My last post was in January 2013.

It feels like that was years ago. So much has happened since then.

So much, I have failed to chronicle.

Today, I'm feeling nostalgic. My dreams led me to memories I had come to terms with and have come to cherish, but yet I find myself, today, just today, dwelling on the past.

And what i need more than anything today, is to revisit my thoughts, the feelings I encountered, then. But all those words I had penned had gotten lost. In email accounts that have been de-registered, in floppy disks that i have misplaced. I am sorely missing those thoughts, those words that would let me immerse myself in my past.

So, a return to this is a must. Because it serves my purpose, my need to remember, to capture the little fleeting moments that are precious to me, and that I want to preserve for my future enjoyment.