3 Countries, 3 Lifestyles

Yup! That's sums it up for us. We shuttle between Malaysia, China and Australia and we live 3 different lifestyles.

In Malaysia, it is a life of luxury! We stay with my sister and hardly ever have to lift a finger. Irma, her trusty helper is a gem in my eyes for not only can she cook some mean dishes for dinner, she's also really good with Micah. We don't need to do housework save for doing our own laundry and even then, Irma helps out sometimes. I get to spend more time with my sister and her family (although I fear that we inconvenience her) and as well as my mom. I am glad my family gets to see Micah growing and developing.

In China, David gets busy - going to work and I am a full time homemaker. Life there is simple. We stay home more and watch a lot of movies and TV series. My days are filled with cooking, caring for Micah and surfing or blogging. We have some friends there - local and foreign and we try to meet up once a week. We travel to Shanghai often to shop for things as well as for some specialty groceries. Our next trip to China will be for a longer period than normal and we hope to take that opportunity to travel within.

In Australia, our life is beginning. On our previous visits, we have stayed with the Lipscombes. This trip we moved into our new home. It is 3 weeks today and we feel very settled. We are discovering new friendships, neighborhoods and a new way to live. The outdoor beckons and we are constantly out in the sunshine and enjoying God's nature. Brisbane is almost always sunny even when it is getting colder. The days may be shorter as winter draws near but we still enjoy an early sun rise.

It is also here, that we have to work harder at housework! David has been spending his mornings working on the garden. Left unattended for a few months before we moved in, he had some back breaking hours, mowing, trimming the hedge and clearing the grass clippings. I was busy either with Micah or the general cleaning and chores around the house.

For obvious reasons, we eat differently depending on where we are at the moment but it is in Australia that I am able to spread my cooking wings because of the availability of ingredients. As we will eventually settle here, I am more willing to invest in all the things needed to cook and to bake. I can't wait until I get all my kitchen stuff over from Malaysia. For now I make do with what I have.

Our time in Brisbane is coming up. A brief stopover in Kuala Lumpur to stock up and then we will be back in Ningbo and the cycle continues while Micah keeps on growing.

Snapshots of life in Brisbane:-

A drive to a National Park and a picnic.

Micah is loving the swing and the outdoors.

It's not quite cold enough for the fireplace

but I wanted to test ours out.

It's an electric fireplace and the flames are just for show :)

David working hard

A brinjal we found in the garden!

We cooked it in a curry :)

Too bad we've had to clear all vegetation

as we won't be around to tend to it.

We are going to miss our home in Brisbane but we are looking forward to some Malaysian food and some pampering in Kuala Lumpur. It's back to the grind in China!