Rediscovering Home: Recall 3: A New Year, a New Beginning

It was late in December, when we travelled up North to Penang again to return the car that we'd borrowed for the last two months. After weeks of deliberation, we decided to get a new car, rather than a second-hand one.

Kevin's parents were still busy unpacking and settling down in the new house. Jacynth would be pleasantly surprised each time another box containing daddy's old toys was opened, and would dive straight into them as if they were her own...

Even Kevin's old uniforms became a source of entertainment...

Jacynth finally acquired the taste for durian, which means she is now officially Malaysian!

Jaydon seemed quite keen too...

It's funny how we actually craved for Malaysian-style Western food, which led us to James Foo's. It was so packed we had to queue up to get in... and had to wait at least half an hour before we could get a seat. It was also a little celebration of Kevin's official completion of his PhD.

Another dish we missed, banana leaf rice at 'Passions of Kerala'!

We spent New Year's Eve relaxing at home...

(while the 4 and a half months Jaydon practiced his rolling)

...with family and Kevin's parent's former schoolmates. We've always opted for a quiet New Years Eve, avoiding all those crowded places.

2013 had finally arrived. Although we collected the car the evening before with Kevin's dad, it wasn't until New Year's Day that we 'unwrapped it', with the help of Jacynth.

Of course, it was also our 4th anniversary, which we celebrated with a nice buffet dinner at the revolving restaurant at City Bayview, complete with 360 degree views of Georgetown...

The next day, we headed back to Ipoh...

so that PKS1257 could meet its friend the AGN...

More presents from Kar Wai and Shu Yee welcomed Jacynth...

Jacynth met more cousins, this time Joel and Joshua who had come back all the way from London...

Back in KL, we had the opportunity of having dinner with Agnes' sister, June and brother-in-law, Han before they returned to the UK.

Another gathering of the 'Boh Siang Liao' group... (please pardon the personal joke) and Nick who happened to be here from Penang joined us

It was for Christmas gift exchange!

The end of the school holidays also meant the resumption of Sunday School in earnest.

Jacynth in Sunday School classes

And Jaydon finally met Auntie Soo Han, our marriage counselor!

One major difference between life here in Malaysia and in Perth is the constant barrage of activities in the week here. It's like there's always something going on. If it's not weekly cell group meetings...

... then it's a party, in this case baby Joshua's full moon...

.. followed not long after by baby Kara's first birthday...

... sometimes it's just a dinner appointment with very good friends...

With the endless stream of events and activities, one really appreciates the quiet, ordinary days, when you can just spend time with the kids at home...