Our Travels

Packing Today I'm packing once more. I absolutely am not enjoying this. I've been ticking off my checklist in my head this whole week but have yet to actually do what I'm supposed to do. Here I am procrastinating on my blog without actually getting my stuff together. In my head I'm packed and ready to go. I can't wait to get to NZ and on to Samoa. I like this country but I think I can take it in small dozes. I need that trip away to reboot the system before coming back to this reality. The schools are now on holidays here in Muscat, it follows the European/US system where this is now the summer holidays. Next term Tau starts at a proper Early Childhood programme at big school. yikes so it's serious business when we come back from the holidays!! Aue to the early mornings for mummy:) Anyway life goes on and this is just another step back in time for me but into the future for my little Tauilagi. Yearning I look forward to meeting my little gorgeous nephew Tuifi...

The first week-end of May was a quiet one. The second weekend we had Tau's 3rd birthday. The third week-end we hosted a farewell do for our dear Swedish friends that are leaving us this year. It was a bitter-sweet occasion as we bid adieu to Ulf & Anette. It was lovely to have known them and wish them all the best in their next venture. Magic Fans The very next morning I took a flight to Dubai for friend Jemma's hen do which some of the girls decided to celebrate in Dubai. We can't make their wedding in Australia in two months so the least I could do was go to the hen's night to celebrate Jemma's nuptials-to-be. My bff picked me up from the airport and we headed to Dragon Mart to pick up cooling fans that are magical during summer. Dragon Mart is a big mainly Chinese Mall in Dubai where you can buy everything for a cheap price. It's huge and it has anything you can think of. So some of our friends found these fans that blow mist which cools you down in the...

We threw Tauilagi's 3rd birthday bash on May 11th well over a month before his actual birthday. Everyone leaves the hot summer heat in Oman in June so I thought we'll have a pre-birthday party so he can enjoy it with his little friends. I had fun organising it and decided to make a pinata which took me all of 6 hours spread out in 3 days. Hubby dearest was in charge of the food while my darling Nets and I did the snacks and goodies for the kids to enjoy. Nets made crispy crackers which were very yummy and I made afghans and then we both made a pagipopo pan each. We froze the dough from the night before so we had less to do the next day. We decorated the house and the garden then got all the stuff ready, fruits and all the nibbles for the kids and adults. Instead of actually paying for professionals I delegated myself to make the balloon models for the kids and Nets to do face painting. Nets was actually really good at her new found job and the face painting was a hit. It was ve...

I'm going through old pictures and videos on my old hard drive and what a roller coaster ride it is. I found pictures of some of my old and some young relatives that have passed on. Photos of old friends whom are still around and some not. Pictures of places that are no more and some that are still the same. However the one piece that brought me to tears and filled me with emotion is a short video from the night one of my sisters gave birth to her daughter. Mum, myself, daddy-to-be and 2 of my other sisters were present for support, so what happened as we waited for the little blessing to make her entrance into the world is we broke into song. We were harmonising in that candle lit room the songs from our grandmother, from our childhood and the old Samoan hymns and songs our mother taught us. It was a pure spiritual moment. Being present in the miracle of the imminent arrival of new life is simply magnificent. Witnessing my own flesh and blood in agonising pain to bring forth this ...

Today I was woken up by the smell of bacon and eggs, never-mind my son yelling from the doorway, wake up mummy, WAKE UP, then he went to the window and tried to pull the curtains open to let the light in. That did the trick along with the smell from the kitchen. I got out of bed, freshened up and came downstairs to eat up a storm. Our friends who are a family of five came over for the day. There was a rugby and a league game so the boys were glued to the TV all afternoon. I decided to bake some goodies from my newfound favourites and made some afghan cookies that were demolished in no time, we then ordered in, by the time we finished dinner the pagipopo was ready for desert. What a delight. I'm just really happy that I can now make these without a worry. To think about a week ago I would never have thought I could make them. So while we adults were finishing our dinner the three boys went upstairs to play in Tau's room. Next thing that happened was all three boys were locked in...

Aue, a 'ou va'ai atu i tala a tagata o loo mo'omo'o ai i o latou tina i luga o le foliga tusi, ua lagona ai lava lou fa'anoanoa ma lou fia fo'i i lou aiga i Samoa. A matou talanoa fo'i ma tagata e fa'atatau i o tatou tupu'aga, oute mo'omo'o ai lava i lota toe fia fo'i i taimi ia o ota la'ititi ma 'ou uso, ao ota le mafaufau tetele i tua atu o le olaga fa'atamaititi. O isi taimi ou te manatua ai lo'u tama, e mo'i na maliu o lima 'ou tausaga ae oute manatua lava ia i taimi sa ia 'aoaoina ai ita, faapea ma le taimi o tata ai ana musika i le LP. O lo'u faanoanoaga e pei ona ma talanoa ai ma se tasi o ou uso ona o aso ua te'a le maliu o le matou tama, sa le mafai, e le sa matou nonofo faatasi, ona ia taliaina taimi matou te autagi ai, pe mo'omo'o ai i lo matou tama. Sa ia taumafai e fai tala malie ina ia matou faagaloina ai lo matou tama. Atonu o lona manatu o le sa'o lea, ae paga lea o le, atil...

So I finally got around to trying to make pagipopo myself. These are coconut buns Samoan style. Nets sent me the recipe which one amazing Samoan lady has on her panipopos blog . She makes and posts good ol' Samoan favourites and are just awesome. Her instructions are so clear and down to the T that even an hopeless baker/cook like moi managed to bake pagipopo the first time round..yippee. I panicked when my dough got stuck to my hands and to the bench I thought I was doing something wrong. Thanks to the top baker in Dubai whom helped me through the 'doughy' bits. So I finally put them in the pan and poured the coconut sauce in only to find the pan was leaking...aaargh. Just my luck of course. I just put the pan on another flat pan and placed it in the oven and hoped for the best. Luckily they turned out well and am SOOOO happy that I can now make these delicacies. I have to make another batch for friends now since the 8 bun one I made today didn't live past our family ...