Home Trip 回家

We are going home (my in laws' place) for two weeks starting this weekend till end of the month. I haven't been back to his hometown since we got married. Neither did the kids. I reckon it is time to bring the whole family back home to meet the grandparents.

My in laws stayed with us for about 1.5 years from Sep 08 to Mar 10. My father in law cooked nice food for me during my pregnancy, looked after Mei together with the maid until she's 9 months. I am grateful to the folks, especially my father in law, as I believe it is not an obligation for the old folks to help out when the young are in need. My mother in law is in a mentally depressed state for past 15 years, shortly after my husband's departure to Singapore. She was fairly introvert, and does not have friends. What she enjoys probably the most, is sitting beside my father in law and watching him reading newspaper. Ok. A flash of them in 2009.

下个礼拜我们举家回去看我的公公婆婆，为期两周。上次我去老公的家还是结婚的时候，孩子们也从来没有回去过。是要回去的。公公婆婆在08年到10年的时候和我们住在一起。公公买菜煮饭，帮忙照顾妹妹，照顾身体不太好的婆婆。我是很感激的。老人没有义务帮我们带孩子。我们有义务赡养老人，却做得不够好。这样远，对我的父母如是，对我的公婆如是。

还让我感动的是公公对婆婆无微不至的照顾。公公最喜欢的是读报纸，婆婆最喜欢的是看公公读报纸。他也常常会念报纸给她听，早上挤好她的牙膏，出门必定牵着她的手。希望老公会继承这样的优良传统。

我的父母会来池州和我们汇合，省略了我带两个小儿再跋涉的困难。妈妈带瀚今到两岁，当时白白胖胖的，现在是个小瘦猴。

To date, we have prepared nothing for the trip. I will save this entry and update along the way.

Gifts - Chocolate 礼物 - 巧克力

How lame it is? I kept asking hubby what gifts to buy for the relatives since a month ago. He's busy and kept delaying. To date, we just bought loads of chocolate. 我一直不停地问老公要买什么礼物。他总是推说忙，我也没有责任感，至今只买了很多巧克力。

FX - strong SGD 汇率
5.23. 新币对人民币的汇率。从我十年前到这里来，这是最高的。新加坡政府近年来频频调高新币的波动范围，以对抗通货膨胀，一般的国家都是通过调整利率来调整通膨，这里的利率调整效应不大，就调汇率，影响到我们小市民。换人民币我是开心的。可是老公是拿美元的薪水，一年来拿回家的新币越来越少。悲哀呀。因为汇率的关系，我的full pay比他多。要记录下来，我希望这样的机会不用再来。

Passports - no Visa needed 护照
一字排开，3个新加坡护照，两个有效的中国护照，两个被剪了角的中国护照。不用申请签证。

Helper - a home trip for her as well
原本是想带保姆一起回去的，可是订票晚了，去合肥直达只剩下4张票，妹妹其实可以不用座位。但还是决定不带她了，让她回菲律宾去看自己的孩子，6年没有回去了。不知道我可以吗？还从来没有一个人带过两个孩子。。。

What we missed - HJ's Desaru trip
错过了什么？瀚今学校23号组织去马来西亚Desaru一天游，可以看农场，坐小船漂流过一条布满萤火虫的河。幼儿园第一次组织出国旅游，很想让瀚今去的。

Total Cost
花费：1万新币，至今。

I will update 2+ weeks later, how the trip goes, how I (+hubby) managed the kids, and how we enjoyed the company of families and relatives. Over here, we are missing the bonding with extended families and relatives, though we have wonderful friends but it wouldn't be same at all.

Looking forward to the trip!