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SYDNEY MADNESS

This is my first-ever blog posting in Capital Letters and that's because it's something that is so, so important. 

Essentially, whole family is going to Sydney in a few months time with toddler and newborn babe in tow, and all four of us are going to live on nothing but the meagre savings of a lowly paid engineer and a stay-home mom. (savings are also going to pay for hubby's astronomical school fees) For over a year. 

What an adventure eh!

God knows, this has been a long time coming.

Since KK graduated a decade ago he's been raring to get his Masters degree in civil engineering, but the local unis flatly rejected him year after year and the last straw was when my nasty letter to a uni dean, asking exactly what was the problem with KK, was answered in a most pragmatic and cold manner: With such awful university grades (lots of Fs), albeit from 10 years ago, the most brilliant job record would never get him into the uni.

Fine. That's that for never-give-chance Singapore. So after a lot of hemming and hawing, KK finally settled on the University of New South Wales. It's in bloody expensive Sydney, but he's so picky about his subjects he said only UNSW would do.

And frankly, if anyone thinks the timing is bad, I pushed for it. I reckon if he doesn't do it now, he NEVER will. He was already talking seriously about giving up his Master's so he can spend the money to get a car for the family. A CAR in exchange for an education!!! Never! Of course, it would be even more impossible if the kids were in school, so it's Now or Never.

Does the whole family have to go? Not necessarily. People have told me it would be wiser to fly over for holiday with the kids once every three months or so, and it would still be cheaper than living there. Too bad, I'm not very pragmatic. I refuse to break up the family and I have faith that being there would be an unforgettable experience for all of us. He's already got a place in the uni now (Thank God for universities which look at more than academic transcripts from aeons ago) and has paid part of his school fees.

Barring some catastrophe (I am praying that #2 will be just as hale and hearty as her bro), it's all systems go. Lots and lots of issues to sort out. Chiefly coping with expensive everything (from healthcare to food to haircuts) and whether I can transit from being a Fake Stay-home Mom (who doesn't have to cook or clean or do any sort of housework) to being a Real One (God I still can't cook for nuts. What are my kids going to eat??!) Wish us luck.

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