I am woman!

I heard this song from Sex and the City movie 2! I love this series and the movies and I think this classic song is just so WOMAN!


I dedicated this song for all the women out there, specially those that been treated unfair and those who is abused , not respected and not been heard in the society or even family. And also to any women out there, this song will brighten up your day and spirit!


( the song also on my mixpod on the left panel : ) . Enjoy , girlfriends!!!!!!


XOXO
S.R



I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

Our first vacation since we moved here!

Finally we had our very first vacation since last December ! This time the destination is domestic and it is Hainan Island.
Still located in China. Hainan means : South of the Sea. It is at the South-est point of China

We went to the South part of the Island, Sanya. This was our short holiday just for 5 nights. The girls had so much fun at the beach and pool. We got all tanned, which I prefer!  :) And we enjoyed a lot of seafood as well!

It was a great summer break indeed!

These are just some of the pics ! Hope you'll like it :D and could consider Hainan as your next family getaway or even honeymoon? :)

Have a great week !
XOXO
S.R

Excitement in July

We managed to visit the Happy Valley Theme Park in the suburb of Shanghai . It is huge and full of exciting rides. I am a fan of theme park! Since I was tall enough to get in to a roller coaster, I would rode it like 3 times in a row. The bigger, the scarier it is the better for me . But age ,unfortunately, is NOT just a number in this case! LOL...I got chicken out , and easily to feel dizzy in this age compare to when I was 15 !!! What a bummer! hahaha... Happens also to my sis and even my dh. He is not a fan of something going up and down, and twirling around like me. But also for him , as he gets older, a lot of factor has decreased our guts! Reality hits when we hit a certain age huh? ^_^
But I am fortunate enough to experienced many great rides before ( one of my fave is The Jurassic Park ride at the L.A Universal Studio! and the triple loops at the Sunway Lagoon)

We will sure go back to the theme park , but I am not sure I will got my guts back to try some of the rides! :)
So these are the pics

I also had lunch with friends to meet some old friends during their Shanghai visits and meeting new friends too at the same time .

So how is your July? We will wrap July by a short holiday to Hainan Island , where there are beaches , pools and sand! ^_^ This is our first holiday since last December when we moved back here! My next plan after that is to go back for a bit to Jakarta( with hoping to pop to KK, but the flights seems to be too complicated to do with 2 kids!) .And I am really hoping for our "bigger" ( and exciting holiday ) in January! Finger crossed!!!! Will sure keep you posted :)

Have a great weekend...mine will be doing some packing and digging for my swimsuits! I hope I still can fit in it! LOL

XOXO
S.R

Science experiment

Today we are doing mini rainfall.
The hot water evaporate and hit the cold plastic and condensed into water droplets. When it becomes heavier the water drop back .( this is to show how rains happens)
This week we learn about weather. Type of clouds, rainfall, snow,fog etc

this is a bad example :).never play tennis near a glass panel!
Indy is trying the tennis kit for begginer.

The evolution of love

Sounds like science 's book title? :) Well actually it's just me who is just realizing that we gonna hit our 11th Wedding anniversary in less than 2 months ( we are officially OLD couple!). If you are a loyal reader of my humble blog, you would have notice by now that I take wedding anniversary very seriously :) . Why?? Because to celebrate our love milestone is a way to keep our love alive and our marriage survive. Normally we will just have dinner date or movie, so nothing to fancy ( no a trip to Paris , or cruise to Mediterranean yet !Hopefully one day... ahhah Amen!!!)


According to the book and site that I read , the stages of marriage are : honeymoon stage, reality stage, child bearing stage, accommodation stage, transformation/success stage.


The early stage of love for most people is the Honeymoon stage. Oh my.. it feels like ages ago. We were both still very young. I was 21 , he was 24( pre married) Where all we did was having fun, going for dates, go to pub, dance, shop, getting to know each other. Where the differences between us seems to be no problem and we thought that with our love we will conquer everything. ( yeah right... keep read on)


Reality stage. Where all the reality hits... before and after married. We saw flaws in our partner ( where before he was perfect!)  And then after marriage  there are more problems : domestic household issue ( can he put the toilet sit down for once??? or can he close the toothpaste back???) and bills to pay... and then  in laws to be pleased, or maybe noisy sister in law to face etc ... ( if you are married you could add more to the list by now). And the heat often turns cold. The frequency to make love has also drop specially when we reached the next stage Child bearing stage.


Child bearing stage according from the article :
The arrival of children is a particularly critical 'new reality' transition for marriages. Kids transform the focus of a family and can dramatically increase the stress level. There is simply so much more work, distraction, time pressure and potential conflict inherent in childrearing. Most marriages are not adequately equipped to cope well with this new family reality. It's very difficult to keep sufficient focus on the marriage relationship with the attention that kids demands, but it is essential to do so. The infancy of the second child is one of the riskiest periods in a marriage, since all these stress factors are multiplied with two young children requiring intensive attention in the family.
Couples who don't intentionally strategize and plan to keep their intimacy strong can begin to feel alienated and drift apart. This is why it's so important to have marriage preparation before the wedding or immediately after, before the more demanding marriage phases begin. 

We are lucky we had two years after marriage with no kids , well we kinda planned it that way. I always know I would love to have kids one day but I also want to spend time with my husband for a couple of years at least with no kids. We both wanted the same thing and we wanted to traveled first, to see the world, to have more fun and most of it we want to be prepare financially before children. 

I think we are now in between child bearing stage and the Accommodation stage  right now.

Accommodation Stage  -  Couples work to renew  their relationship on a down-to-earth basis by learning about their needs and managing their differences and areas of conflict.

We are still having communication problem sometimes. As my husband is at the busiest time in his career  and for me too. Handling 2 young kids as well. Time management is the hardest part. We spend family time together only on Sunday and we take family time very seriously too. As well as parent's date night!

We believe to have strong bonding between husband and wife is important. The love might be there, but when there is no connection or bonding the feeling to each other might drift away and the sparks will be gone.

Some couples think that starting a family together will reinforce their bond. For many, it is the opposite. They may stay together because of their kids, but their tie to each other is actually diluted as their attachment to their children displaces their connection to each other.

I also agree on this. A couple need to know how many children do they want to have. Because being a parent is the most hardest job in the world and if you stay married together but not in the same page on raising your own children that will lead to more arguments sooner or later.


Hmm...sound so complicated isn't it? Do I make the single one out there scare of marriage? I do hope NOT! LOL
But just a little friendly advice... Marriage is not a noun , it is a verb, it requires a lots more than love alone, It needs understanding, and most important of all is friendship.  ( yeah...sounds easy? That's mean you are not yet married! ^_^...) Those who are married will know, some times there are time when you can't just face your husband, where everything he said or did annoyed you to the core or even more! And yet you are still there together and your marriage is even stronger and you will think: to marry him is one of the best thing in your live! And yet... he STILL manage to annoy you again and again... vice versa! I know sometimes er.... ok...most of the time I am a very annoying wife too ^_^ ! LOL). 


I remember a conversation with a childhood friend over a year ago back in my hometown.... she told me her marriage is safely running, smoothly, her husband always gives her way, listen to her, do anything to please her. When I heard this, I said : how lucky you are!!!  But then she said , she feels like her marriage is too plain... to normal....something is missing,  she is bored because there is no challenge in it, because the husband always do whatever to please her! buy anything she wants... Me of course screamed in horror: What's wrong with you???? I wish my dh do that to me!!! Buy ANYTHING I want,,, DO whatever to please me ( hallo?? New bag, new shoes, go to shop in Hongkong to revamp my wadrobe , why I must complaint?) . I told her :my situation is we " discuss " ( read : argue )where should we go, where do we eat. Even though we argue but I think it is just "us" , we do not argue seriously but I think me and him has a very strong opinions LOL. We are NOT a soft spoken couple for sure!
And then... I need to "hide" my new shopping stuffs ! LOL does it sound familiar to you??? So when I heard my friend's husband never do that, and she is bored I was like : are you nuts????  But to think again... maybe.. if my dh will just follow everything I want, do whatever I want... follow whatever I wish... I will be bored to the core!!! So you see.... Marriage is indeed a VERB!!! ^_^ We must work hard on it!


And I stumbled upon a funny quote in Facebook ( which ...funny enough...sarcastic but how true!!)


Marriage License should be like a Driver's License. Good for a few years, if you don't renew it, it expires!

What do you think? :) I know it's sound stupid...but to think of it... There is truth in it. Marriage on the paper but it doesn't guarantee it will last forever. We need to "renew" " refresh" "rebuild" "reconnect" with your love one.. Else...it will be expire...


Oh well.. going to renew mine a bit tonight ! Nope! Not like what you are thinking!! LOL.... I will show him his "love letters" to me from  more than 12 years ago ( gosh I feel so ancient!!) . I happen to found it when I clean my cabinet today. A bunch of our love letters from 1998 when we were apart for a few months! When I read it this afternoon ...hahahahahaa I was dying of laughter!!! Couldn't help it! I want to see his face later when I will show it to him!!!! hahahahah...And it is nice to remember those time...where we were still young, were uncertain about our future.... so many doubts, so many obstacles, and yet we are here now... laughing at our love letters 12 years later! Renew,,,,, Re-fresh.... Re-build.....Re- connect.....


XOXO
S.R 

A Perfect Sunday....

My perfect Sunday would be : wake up late ( circa 8 am ), enjoy breakfast with my family ( toasted bread with Nuttella or jam, or pancakes and a cuppa  coffee for me), going to Church , out for light lunch nearby, go home for "Sunday movie" ( normally on HBO, Cinemax  or DVD), while having a bit of treat ( dessert like sweet stuffs like brownies, doughnuts, ice cream since we don't usually have dessert in our home).  And having Barbecue for dinner is a plus!

The setting :) this balcony is on the back of our apartment ( from the girl's bedroom) and mind you the left side is not toilet ok? it is a wash basin :P

We live on the top floor on the building , my husband plans to do the BBQ in our back balcony. I am not sure if the management will allow that !! :D anyway......we did it! :D

It is nice to have busy weekend and exciting one ( which remind me I haven't post about our last week outing to the Theme Park in Shanghai) But it is also nice just to have a down time, relaxing and enjoying our family ( it literately cost nothing but it is priceless!)

Tomorrow is Monday.... so back to routine again , but here it is summer holiday until September. Everything is more quiet , even the church ( International Parish ) is quiet since most of the people are back to their home country. We are stuck at the moment here in the Shanghai heat! But we still have lots to discover this summer, I am thinking more visit to the museums ( insects and children museum ) and library will be nice.

Have a great week and be safe people!

XOXO
S.R

PS : OH tonight is the World Cup Final and since my favourite team ( Italy, duh!) is out and Germany is on the 3rd place.. this time I will root for Spain!
GO SPAIN!!!!!

Girls' talk

 Who said if 2 or more women meet , we can only gossip and spend money on clothes, shoes, and bags? We actually doing something good for our health! 

I always know that I need a girl talk, a girlfriends time, no matter where. It is just different from husband and wife things. The quality time with our spouse is also important but quality time with girlfriends is also good! I do love to have lunch or catch a chick movie! Imagine to watch a chick movie with our husband? It won't be the same like if we watch it with bunch of GFs.

So it is important for our husband to understand also that.. even we love them but we still need a space with our friends. And it is also healthy for our husband to have their own friends to hang out too!

And in case our husbands need an evidence.. here is the article to read :

In a class at Stanford, the lecturer (head of psychiatry at Stanford) said in his topic of the relationship between stress and disease that one of the best things that a man could do for his health is to be married to a woman whereas for a woman, one of the best things she could do for her health was to nurture her relationships with her girlfriends.  At first everyone laughed, but he was serious.

Women connect with each other differently and provide support systems that help each other to deal with stress and difficult life experiences. Physically this quality "girlfriend time" helps us to create more serotonin--a neurotransmitter that helps combat depression and can create a general feeling of well being.  Women share feelings whereas men often form relationships around activities. They rarely sit down with a buddy and talk about how they feel about certain things or how their personal lives are going.  Jobs? Yes.   Sports? Yes.   Cars? Yes. Fishing, hunting, golf?  Yes.  But their feelings?--rarely. Women do it all of the time. We share from our souls with our sisters, and evidently that is very good for our health.  He said that spending time with a friend is just as important to our general health as jogging or working out at a gym.

There's a tendency to think that when we are "exercising" we are doing something good for our bodies, but when we are hanging out with friends, we are wasting our time and should be more productively engaged--not true.  In fact, he said that failure to create and maintain quality personal relationships with other humans is as dangerous to our physical health as smoking!  So every time you hang out to schmooze with a gal pal, just pat yourself on the back and congratulate yourself for doing something good for your health!  We are indeed very, very lucky.   Sooooo let's toast to our friendship with our girlfriends. Evidently it's very good for our health. 

So when will we have our lunch together again ? :) Miss u all!! And so glad we can keep connected through the virtual social network!