Christine Knight, Author at Adventure, baby!

Christine Knight

Christine is the editor of Adventure, Baby!

The Lanterns of the Terracotta Warriors Sydney

February 22, 2015 / Cheese, Outdoor Play, Sydney, Sydney Life / 0 comment

We just made it down to Dawes Point in time to see The Lanterns of the Terracotta Warriors (last day is Feb 22). These amazing, life-sized lanterns are based on the discovery of the 8,000 terracotta warriors and horses that were unearthed in China’s Shaanxi Province in 1974.

Chinese artist Xia Nan created these lanterns for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 out of fabric and wire. The 90 2.1 metre high warriors and two horses glow in brilliant bursts of colour after dark, making this a remarkable installation both during the day and night.

Our family visited during the day so Cheese could see the warriors. We were absolutely in awe of this exhibition.

Sydney Icons In Photographs

February 19, 2015 / Sydney, Sydney Life / 0 comment

Being a Sydneysider born and raised, I don’t usually take photos of obvious things like the Sydney Opera House. I recently attended an Instagram meetup however and took my SLR out for a stroll, and was really happy with some of the images I captured. Sydney is so incredibly gorgeous and it’s very easy to take that beauty for granted when you’ve grown up here like I did. So here are a few images of the Sydney Opera House and Royal Botanic Gardens from my evening stroll that will make you want to visit Sydney if you live afar.

Vaucluse House: Sydney’s Best High Teas

February 18, 2015 / Cheese, Sydney, Sydney Food, Vaucluse / 14 Comments

Sydney is full of gorgeous historic places, such as Vaucluse House and Vaucluse House Tearooms. Tucked away in the suburb of Vaucluse, this little oasis of quiet is a gorgeous spot for an outing to escape the hustle and bustle of the city around it.

The Vaucluse House Tearooms overlooks the beautiful and sprawling Vaucluse House gardens, and is the location we chose recently to celebrate my dad’s birthday.

Vaucluse House is surrounded by 10 hectares of stunning gardens stretching down to Sydney Harbour. The sandstone mansion was built in the 1830s and was the home of William Charles Wentworth and his family. The Tearooms were added later in the 1930s in art deco style.

Reservations are for parties over six, or for the high tea menu only. Otherwise, be prepared to wait for a table.

My parents and Cheese ordered off the a la carte menu. Their dishes: Cheese Burger (beetroot, tomato, pickles on brioche with chips, $24), Tearooms Panko Crumbed Market Fish, (with fat chips, $28) Kids’ Cheese & Tomato Toastie ($8). My parents were both very happy with their dishes – fresh ingredients and well cooked.

Alec and I ordered the Colonial High Tea ($49pp including Glass of Australian Sparkling Wine, Selection of Premium Teas from Chamellia & Coffee from The Little Marionette).

Tearooms’ Scones with Berry Jam & Clotted Cream. I actually found the scones to be the only let down of the tea. They were hard and dry – obviously not freshly made to order.

Savoury selection: Cauliflower & Truffle Tart with Samphire & Parmesan Crisp, Smoked Salmon on Brioche with Lemon Crème & Caviar, Chicken & Tarragon Pillows, Mediterranean Vegetable Sandwiches, and an Heirloom Tomato Tart. We enjoyed the savoury selection, but would have liked to see some more traditional sandwiches here, like egg salad or cucumber.

Sweet selection: Apple Snow, Chocolate & Earl Grey Macarons, Strawberry Éclairs with Vanilla Crème, Brioche Doughnuts with Lemon & Lavender Sugar, Caramelised Pineapple & Orange Curd Custard Tarts. The highlight was the donuts. They were really delicious.

For dessert, both of my parents ordered the Vanilla Sponge (with buttermilk curd, strawberries & mint with garden chard, $14), which they both said was really lovely.

After lunch we took a stroll around the gardens. We checked out the vegetable garden and farm animals at the back of the property, as well as the stables (which are all free to visit). The produce from the gardens is featured on the Tearoom’s menu, so you can literally see your lunch growing before you.

The farm animals are a huge hit with kids visiting the property. They’re housed in huge enclosures and live a pretty pleasant life, from what we could see. The gardens and Vaucluse House are alone a reason to visit.

We didn’t enter Vaucluse House, but we enjoyed walking around the gardens immensely. The whole property is so peaceful and quiet that it’s hard to remember that not far away is the bustle of Sydney traffic.

We really enjoyed our experience at Vaucluse House, and will be back once more when we need to take a time out from Sydney and visit the calmer days of yesteryear.

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: Yes.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: Yes.
Kids’ menu: Yes.

Vaucluse House Tea Room
Wentworth Road,
Vaucluse NSW 2030
Phone: (02) 9388 8188
Prices: $$$
Hours: Wed–Fri 10am–4.30pm, Sat & Sun 8am–4.30pm
Get Directions
Bookings essential for high tea.

Fifth Wedding Anniversary at Aria and Quay Grand Pullman, Sydney

February 12, 2015 / CBD, Circular Quay, Sydney, Sydney Food / 2 Comments

Ahhh I love wedding anniversaries. This year, Alec and I celebrated number five, which seemed pretty significant for some reason. Half a decade has slipped by so quickly, and our lives have changed so very much in this time that it feels like another life time ago that Alec and I said our vows.

For our 5th anniversary, Alec booked us a night at the Pullman Quay Grand in Circular Quay for a “staycation”, and organised my parents to watch Cheese for the night. He arranged a suite with a harbour view – perfect for us to play tourist for the night.

When we opened the door what did we see but a complimentary bottle of champagne and a really sweet note from the staff wishing us a happy anniversary. Little touches like this really add to hotel stays to turn them into a special, memorable experience.

Our view was spectacular. We popped the champers and enjoyed our pre-dinner wine while admiring the view.

It wasn’t long before we were due for our dinner date. I’d booked us a table at ARIA, a restaurant right on the tip of Circular Quay, with a killer view of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge.

ARIA is an award-winning, hatted restaurant owned by chef Matt Moran and restaurateur, Peter Sullivan.

We went in with high expectations for our meal, and were happily very satisfied with our dining experience.

For our dining, we chose the tasting menus. The regular for Alec, and vegetarian for me ($175pp). A vegetarian amuse bouche was brought out for each of us – sadly we ate them before I could photograph them. Next was miche bread and two butters: regular and seaweed.

The vegetarian tasting menu

Green asparagus with burrata, black olive and nasturtium.

Celeriac and carrot salad with smoked egg yolk and buckwheat.

Slow roasted bello rosso tomatoes with lemon verbena and olive oil.

Raviolo of potato and shallot with sage burnt butter.

Salt baked golden beetroots with watercress and charred artichokes.

Creamy mashed potatoes.

Slow cooked Cornucopia egg with broccoli, macadamia nuts and black truffle.

Regular tasting menu

Saikou salmon with apple cucumber, lemon and ear grey.

Southern calamari with Iberico Jamon, dashi custard and shiitake mushroom tea.

Pressed Jurasic quail and foie gras with pickled cherries and green almonds.

John Dory with white beans, piquillo peppers, and sweet garlic.

Kurabuta pork belly with sweetcorn and palm sugar dressing.

Lamb loin with sweetbread sausage, peas and charred globe artichokes.

Granita and mango palate cleanser.

Blueberry pressed pineapple with coconut sorbet and summer herbs.

Selection of house made petit fours.

Our meal at ARIA was really incredibly good. I loved that they had a special vegetarian menu all ready to show me (most restaurants either don’t offer a vegetarian tasting menu or just whip up something when needed). This showed me that they actually care that vegetarians dining in their restaurant have an equally wonderful time as the omnivores.

Alec and I both thoroughly enjoyed each dish. The stand out for me was the slow roasted bello rosso tomatoes with lemon verbena and olive oil. The flavour from the tomatoes and lemon was just exquisite. Alec’s only let down dish was the John Dory with white beans, piquillo peppers, and sweet garlic, which he said was a bit bland with undercooked beans.

My only personal disappointment was the dessert. While the blueberry pressed pineapple with coconut sorbet and summer herbs was very nice and refreshing, I really like desserts that are a bit more innovative to make a meal end on a really high and memorable note. The petit fours were extremely tasty however, which was a good way to end the meal.

After dinner we strolled down to the Quay to just take in the beautiful evening and enjoy each other’s company. We had a really wonderful anniversary, and appreciated some much-needed time to spend together.

ARIA
1 Macquarie Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
Phone: (02) 9252 2555
Prices: $$$$
Hours: Mon-Fri 12pm-2:30pm, 5:30pm-10:30pm, Sat 5pm-10:45pm, Sun 5:30pm-9:45pm.
Get Directions

Pullman Quay Grand
61 Macquarie Street,
New South Wales 2000
(02) 9256 4000
Get Directions

Brewristas: Kid-Friendly Cafes, Glebe, Sydney

February 11, 2015 / Glebe, Inner West, Sydney, Sydney Food / 0 comment

If you love your caffeine hit, take yourself to Brewristas for some speciality coffee and really delicious food to boot. The new cafe specialises in coffee (duh), and their 12-hour cold drip coffee blends are perfect for the steamy Sydney summer. With names like Cold Brew, Brewmondae and Brewtea, all 3 are produced and bottled in-house, and give a massive buzz, so be warned!

Honestly, I don’t like coffee, but Alec does, which is why we ended up at Brewristas for brunch one Saturday. With an ex-Bills Darlinghurst chef at the helm in the kitchen, I was expecting the food to be pretty darn good (which it was).

The cafe has three distinct dining areas, with lots of space to move – even enough for large strollers to maneuver without hitting other diners, which has made the cafe a popular spot for local mother’s groups.

We were seated on the roomy patio out back, which is also where the giant chalkboard and swing are, so the perfect spot for families.

Cheese and I shared a Nutella Frappe ($7). It usually comes with coffee, but they staff will make one without it if asked. It was light and cold and just enough Nutella to fulfill my craving without getting sickly sweet.

We ordered Cheese a serve of Toasted Sourdough with Vegemite ($5).

My dish was the Toasted Sourdough ($5) with Poached Eggs ($4), Avocado ($2) and Roasted Tomato ($2). It was a really good size and also price and I was left feeling satisfied but not over-full. Very flavoursome food, and well poached eggs.

Alec ordered Porky Pig’s Hotteok ($15), the cafe’s take on the bacon and egg roll. In this version, the “bread” is two toasted honey jam-stuffed pancakes, (typically a Korean snack that’s sold on the sidewalk in winter), with spicy guacamole and mango habanero mayo.

The staff at Brewristas are very attentive, knowledgable and friendly. They’re used to accommodating mother’s groups, so are very kid-friendly too. This little cafe is already buzzing despite being only a few months old. With a combination of simple and innovative dishes, and, of course, coffee coffee coffee, it’s on it’s way to becoming a very popular hangout.

Highchairs: Yes.
Stroller storage: Yes.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: No.
Kids’ menu: No.

Brewristas
73 Glebe Point Road,
Glebe NSW 2037
Prices: $$
Hours: Mon-Thur 1pm-9pm, Fri 1pm-11:30pm, Sat 10am-12am, Sun 10am-9pm
Get Directions

Why We Don’t Eat Fish: Conversations With My 3-Year-Old

February 5, 2015 / Cheese, Family, Kids / 17 Comments

I’m vegetarian for ethical reasons, and have been for a long time. I don’t talk about it a lot unless asked directly, but it’s a part of my life I feel very passionate about. When Alec and I were pregnant with Cheese, the topic came up, because we had to decide how to raise our daughter, in our mixed-food family. Our home is vegetarian because I do all the cooking, but Alec eats some types of meat when he’s out.

We made the decision to raise Cheese as a vegetarian. The idea was that I would teach her how to eat a balanced diet without meat as part of the equation, so she would be able to make her own decision later in life with a good knowledge of all her dietary options.

At home, it’s been easy. When we go out, sometimes a bit more challenging. There would be times where Alec would order meat at a restaurant and she want to try whatever he was eating, and also occasions when we’d visit friends who;d serve the kids things like fish fingers, and she’d want to try what the other kids were having. Learning how to handle these situations with a baby and young toddler were not the easiest.

Generally, I’d let her try most things. She had a bite of a fish finger and spat it out. She might have eaten a tiny piece of chicken stuffed into pasta once. If avoidable without a meltdown though, I’ve distracted her with something else to avoid the meat situation.

Up until today, I’ve felt a bit strange about it all – basically enforcing my values on another person who doesn’t understand why. I’ve doubted my hard stance on and off, because she’s been so little and it didn’t seem fair to deny her things that other people eat, just because I believed it to be wrong.

We had a moment tonight, however, that changed my mind and made me glad that I persisted with this path for us. We were reading a book before bed: Meg And Mog In The Fog, where Meg and Mog get stuck on an island, and Mog catches and eats a fish. We get to this spot in the story and Cheese interrupts with “Why?” Why did they eat the fish?”.

Cheese hadn’t been aware until now that people ate fish. She thought fish were just spending their lives swimming in the ocean. I explained to her, “Some people eat fish when they’re hungry. Mog was hungry, so he ate the fish.”. “But why?” She asked again. I tried to go with a broader answer that encompassed the larger issue. “Some people eat animals like fish as part of their food every day. We don’t eat animals though, because we’re vegetarian. That means we don’t eat animals.”

This explanation made sense to my animal-loving kid. “That’s right,” she said. “We don’t eat animals, we just eat FOOD”. Super cute way to describe it. And suddenly, everything about the lifestyle I chose for us felt right.

I’m really not surprised that she feels this way now that she is starting to be able to understand what it all means, because she is a really empathetic kid. She absolutely adores animals like I do. I mean, she LOVES animals, all animals, so it makes sense that thinking of eating one is repulsive to her.

I find the age Cheese is at to be absolutely wonderful in so many ways. The best thing is her new ability to understand and reason – I love talking with her about why things are the way they are, and helping her learn about the world. Shaping this little person’s life is a hugely scary responsibility that I do not take lightly.

Am I Being A Good Enough Mum?

February 5, 2015 / Family / 14 Comments

I honestly didn’t think motherhood would be so emotionally hard. Pre-kid, I imagined I would pop out my little one and then get back to my regular daily life—just with a sidekick in tow. What I didn’t imagine was all the second guessing I would be doing about my own mothering skills. I’m constantly obsessing that I’m not doing the right thing and always assume I’m falling short of what I want to be, which is a really great parent. Here are 10 worries I currently have about my parenting:

1. Is she having too much TV/iPad time?

I’m sure the fact that I’m giving her any TV or screen time is bad. She knows all the words to the Barney and Friends songs and is now onto Strawberry Shortcake.

2. Is she eating enough nutrients?

Actually, she won’t eat most things. Her diet is basically white pasta (no sauce), eggs, fruit and toast. The only vegetable she’ll eat is corn on the cob.

3. Is she okay at daycare?

I hate leaving my daughter with strangers and daycare is no exception. While I’ve done the best I could to choose a reputable facility, I still worry constantly over whether it’s the right place for her.

4. Is she getting enough sleep?

My child has been a bad sleeper since birth. At age three she still wakes up most nights. I’m exhausted and I worry about how tired my daughter must be! How can I help her to get the sleep she needs so she’s not rubbing her eyes all day?

5. Does she have too many toys?

Have I spoiled her with too much ‘stuff’? I don’t know, but I know I’m always feeling insecure about it.

6. Does she need siblings?

My husband and I are 99.9% sure that we’re happy with our single child, but am I doing her a disservice by making her an only child?

7. Am I sending the right message?

When I hear the same words I’ve spoken offhand repeated by her little chirping voice I resolve over and over again to be careful what I say around her. I want my daughter to believe she is strong and amazing and can do anything. The thought of my careless words destroying her self-esteem kills me.

8. Am I setting a good example?

I try, really I do, but curse words sometimes come out and all kinds of thoughtless other things that I really shouldn’t be saying around someone who is a sponge and absorbs everything I say.

9. Do I yell too much?

I’m sure the answer to this is yes and I hate it.

10. Am I being patient enough?

I’m an impatient person at the best of times. I’m trying so hard to be more patient with this tiny person sharing my life. I know I say “quick quick, we’re running late!” too often. We need more days with slow footpath ambling, pointing out spider-webs and picking up fallen leaves. These are the happy days that my child loves, the moments she tells her daddy about when we get home.

This article first appeared on Mommynearest.com

Three Blue Ducks: Kid-Friendly Cafes, Bronte

February 4, 2015 / Bronte, Sydney, Sydney Food / 2 Comments

Three Blue Ducks is a tiny restaurant up the hill from Bronte Beach. Even though it’s away from the main crowd of sun seekers, be prepared for a wait as this popular eatery is always busy.

The focus at Three Blue Ducks is local produce. A lot of their fresh ingredients come straight from their on-site garden (more on that later). Where possible, they use organic, Fairtrade, biodynamic and locally sourced products.

The Three Blue Ducks team also works with the local community to promote sustainable food practices by supporting initiatives such as Grow it Local, and setting up footpath herb gardens for all to share. All of the restaurant’s organic waste is collected and composted by locals, and local community gardens, which, in turn, grows food for local families. They also have a rooftop solar power system for use in the kitchen and dining areas and all cleaning chemicals are eco-friendly, non-toxic and biodegradable, and they use biodegradable takeaway containers.

We met at Three Blue Ducks with friends for a week day lunch when it was easier to get a table. The wait staff were very friendly, and happily found is a great table where we could all fit comfortably by the window.

Our group ordered: Raw Salad of Spinach, Beetroot, Fennel, Red Cabbage, Pomegranate, Parsley, Goats Cheese with Bird Seed Mix and Chardonnay Vinegar ($22), special of the day: Fish Cakes, Steak Sandwich with red pepper mayo, tomato, onion marmalade and rocket ($18), kids’ milk shake and friand.

My salad was huge and full of nutritious things. It was fresh, light and crunchy. Absolutely delicious.

Follow the alley down past the bathrooms to find a little garden area that kids can explore.

Watch out for bees!

The garden is full of herbs and vegetables – fun for teaching kids where their food comes from and what they look like before they’re picked.

And chickens are always a favourite! The back garden area is a great place for kids to get their energy out while parents are enjoying a relaxing brunch.

Highchairs: No.
Stroller storage: No.
Easy access: Yes.
Change tables: No.
Kids’ menu: No.

http://www.blackstarpastry.com.au/” target=”_blank”>Three Blue Ducks
143 Macpherson Street,
Bronte NSW 2024
Phone: (02) 9389 0010
Prices: $$
Hours: Sun-Tues 7am-3:30pm, Wed-Sat 7am-12am
Get Directions

Parenting Around The World: Zurich, Switzerland

January 29, 2015 / Family / 20 Comments

I’m starting a new parenting series today: a view into what life is like for parents around the world. My first parent is Thien Lan Weber, a French-born Vietnamese professional (and blogger!), who, after living in Australia for 12 years, recently moved to Zurich, Switzerland, with her husband, Emmanuel, and their two sons (aged three and six). The couple are both originally from France (Thien Lan from Paris, Emmanuel from Nancy in Eastern France). Says Thien Lan, “Call me a Parisian (although I look Asian) but don’t call him a Nancy boy though!”

Their current home is Gockhausen, a cute village in the mountain surrounded by the woods, but only a 15 minute drive from the city centre. A big change from their old home on Sydney’s Eastern suburbs, where they lived close to the beach.

Thank you so much Thien Lan for sharing your amazing insight into life as a parent in Zurich.

A climate change
The first thing people said when I moved from Sydney to Zurich was: “What a change!” Indeed, the climate is not the same. Captain Obvious would say it’s much cooler here. In fact when we arrived last September, the summer was unusually long and the weather was mild up to Christmas. Mild here means above zero degrees. But here are a few things I like about this climate:

Less wind, so much less wind, which means a 15 degree feels much warmer than winter in Sydney where the breeze coming straight from Antarctica chills me to the bones
Snow! The kids discovered snow last month. It was magical. In particular when Frozen the Disney movie is so popular.
Ski. We discovered a very child-friendly ski resort just an hour drive away from where we live. The kids have been twice so far and my 6-year-old is making amazing progress. He can go down a small slope by himself and avoid a few obstacles. Much easier to pick up than surfing.
No running barefoot. Sorry Aussie friends but that habit of yours (well, some of you) grosses me out. In fact it’s the opposite here: kids (and grown up alike) take their shoes off before entering someone’s house and change from snow boots to slippers when they enter school.
Shopping! Great excuse for me to buy a whole range of clothes I didn’t have back in Sydney. Lucky I got given Ugg Boots as farewell gift. I can’t live without their comfort and warmth. But I got to buy lots of knitwear and a super cool down jacket that protects me up to minus 5 or 10 degrees Celcius, woohoo!

The inconvenience of this new climate though, is:

Rugging up the kids: long sleeve polo shirt + jumper + down jacket + beanie + gloves + warm socks + snow boots. I gave up on the scarves thanks to turtleneck jackets. My 3-year-old had two months of why-do-I-have-to-wear-a-jacket type of tantrums. Then they often forget their beanies or gloves at school, just more hassle to your everyday life.
Less opportunities to play outdoor BUT eventually, as long as it’s not raining, I’m happy to get them to rug up and play outside in the woods or at the small playground in front of our house.

Early Independence
The Swiss want their kids to be autonomous from a very young age. Kids walk back to school by themselves from the age of three or four. I see small groups of pre-schoolers learning how to cross the street. My six-year-old goes to school by himself, it’s only three minutes walk through a bit of woods over a wooden bridge. So picturesque! But that’s my biggest pride so far and that’s why we chose to live in this village.

Outdoor lifestyle
Most building blocks comprises of a small playground with either swings or slides, so it’s very convenient for kids to play outside and have play dates without making a mess at home.

We also love our nearby lake. We went for a swim a couple of times in September and the water and the air were around 20 degrees Celcius. For 3 CHF(4.3AUD) you have access to a beach with manicured grass, change rooms, lockers, ping pong tables, water play and playground, access to the Lake via rockstairs or via waterslides, diving board and a few platforms further in the lake from where you can swim to and take a breathtaking view of the coast.

The mountains are also wonderful. Not just for skiing but as landscape background. Beautiful with snowy tops.

Learning to share facilities
For the first time ever, we need to get used to sharing a washing machine and dryer with strangers. In most buildings you have one set of washing machines and dryer to share among all the tenants with a roster on when you can wash your clothes, i.e. once a week plus weekends if needs be. With the kids playing in muddy snow it’s not always convenient. Lucky my husband is very organised so he plans it all ahead. I know I’m lucky, he takes care of the washing. And I also bought more pants to get through the week so we need to wash our clothes less.

Cleanliness and convenience for kids
All playgrounds are clean, maintained and have toilets. Café and restaurants toilets are all spotless too. Sometimes they have change tables. Sydney wasn’t too bad for that but Paris is outrageous.

Following local customs
The Swiss society is known for abiding by rules and being very clean. When we spilled a Coke on the floor at Maccas we felt like we had to clean it up, straight away. Stairs and common areas in your building are spotless and neighbour watch is extreme.

While everyone being strict on following rules keeps everything clean and safe, it can also get annoying when taken to the extreme, such as an old lady I noticed who recorded all the license plate numbers of the cars parked in our street one day. From what I’ve been told, she is annoyed that our street is being invaded by non-local parents who drop off their kids at the school.

Location, location, location
We love our proximity to France and the rest of Europe. The whole point of the move for us was to be close to family and being only three-and-a-half hour drive from Nancy, we get to see my in-laws quite often. And from Nancy I can hop to Paris which is only one hour and 20 minutes away by high speed train (and leave the kids with their Grand Ma so I shop and dine freely). Zurich is also three-and-half hour drive from Burgundy with its world famous wineries and Michelin Star restaurants. Further down the region we can visit my former-dorm mate and best friend from university who also has two boys and so similar point of views about life, career and education although we have been 20,000 km apart for all these years!

Exposure to culture
Museums are free to kids, and all have clean toilets, free cloakrooms and lockers, and no crowds at all! There are also many old castles you can visit and learn about the history and customs of the area in a fun and interactive way. Farms organise arts and crafts activities like pumpkins decoration contests and candles making.

What we eat
Affordable organic fruits and veggies and Cordon Bleu (chicken schnitzel with melted cheese and ham inside) is a national dish. The kids love it.

On the downside, Sashimi is extremely expensive. Switzerland is not exactly know for its coast and fish market. A visit to a Sushi train cost us 200 CHF ($279 AUD) for us four on our second day in Zurich. Never again! We shifted to cheese instead: fondue, raclette. As long as we don’t mention sashimis to the kids they won’t ask for it. Lucky we’ve got a nice Vietnamese joint 10 minutes drive. It’s 20 CHF = 29 AUD for a bowl of pho, which is pretty cheap lunch according to local standards.

There are also no babycinos in Zurich! And kids’ meals are around 15 CHF with free cordial drink, although I found a nice café that makes you pay as many CHF as your child’s age.

Picking up the local language
The challenge for us is to learn two new languages. The local language is Swiss German, which sounds like Dutch, but the written language is German. It’s hard for the kids to learn German and maintain English being enrolled where they are at a French School. Fortunately, the French system starts at three years old so the little one goes to school full time and half of the week is in German. The six year old has 45 mins of German, four times a week, and for me, I enrolled in intensive classes to refresh my seven years of German classes, forgotten after almost 20 years of not practicing.

A challenge with not speaking German yet is needing to enroll the kids in activities in languages that they do speak – either French or English. We are fortunate enough to have after school activities organised by the French school almost every day. Wednesday afternoon is free though so we have to find our own. We live eight minutes walk from a pony club so I enrolled my six-year-old. Although the instructors could speak English, my son didn’t bond much with the experience, the local kids (all girls), nor the ponies to be honest. We also tried English-speaking football and that was better.

To keep up swimming classes our only choice is German-speaking classes, but for music where my son’s motivation is really not there yet, I don’t want to ruin it by choosing the local classes in German. My strategy will be to start with asking one of the French teachers that he absolutely loves to show him a few things on the guitar. It’s a big disappointing to have to choose this route because the local music school is subsidised by the city and is well structured, reflecting the long arts tradition in Europe. I didn’t have the luxury to have a private teacher when I grew up in Paris and took lessons at the Conservatoire with lots of exams, hard work and competition.

Making new friends
Only the language barrier is preventing us from meeting friends with the locals. However, the French school network is very tight and helpful, Facebook groups like “mum’s and mum’s to be in Zurich” works wonders with replies within the hour to any question you might have, small or big. And I discovered many other English speaking networks which all about sharing and helping each other.

Thien Lan Weber is a French born Vietnamese professional with 15 years consumer marketing experience in Blue chip companies. She is also a mum of two boys and recently stopped corporate work when she relocated from Sydney Australia to Zurich Switzerland for family reasons.

She now follows her passion writing a blog with restaurant reviews covering Zurich and France. Her style is all about practical tips like dining out with kids or career shifts for working mums. She’s currently refreshing her German, helping some Mumtrepreneurs with their marketing, takes time to play the piano and helps her eldest son when he’s stuck in his Skylanders video games.

You can follow Thien Lan’s adventures as an expat in Zurich on her blog, http://www.thienlan.me. You can also find her on LinkedIn.

Octonauts Live! Operation Reef Shield

January 28, 2015 / Cheese, Sydney, Sydney Life, Theatre / 0 comment

If you have a preschooler, likely you know exactly who the Octonauts are, too. The popular TV show (it’s one of the 10 most watched TV shows in Australia) has been teaching kids about the importance of ocean conservation since it began airing on television two years ago.

The Octonauts are a team of eight quirky (and adorable) sea creatures, led by Captain Barnacles (a polar bear), whose mission it is to explore underwater worlds, rescue sea creatures and protect the ocean.

By watching this TV show, Cheese has learned a great deal about ocean life, such as that jelly fish sting, and sharks are dangerous. Unlike a lot of shows that I’m pretty sure rot the brain (don’t get me started on those horrible egg unwrapping YouTube videos), Octonauts is something I’m happy for my daughter to be watching on TV as it’s so educational.

If your kid is also an Octonauts lover, they’ll be excited to hear about the Australian world premiere of the Octonauts Live! Operation Reef Shield show, a live adventure musical touring Australia from 21 Feb to 28 March 2015. The show features all of the show’s beloved characters, transformed into lifelike walkaround costumes (like the Captain Barnacles in the pictures, whom we were lucky enough to recently meet). Expect to hear the famous “Creature Report” song, The Octonauts theme song, plus 15 new songs sung by the Octonauts as well as a colourful array of Australian reef creatures.

Cheese is a massive fan of The Octonauts, as you can see from her face in these photos. We were lucky enough to be invited on a tour of Sydney Sea Life with Captain Barnacles himself.

As we walked through the aquarium, we met all kinds of special Australian reef creatures, such as the Crown of Thorns Starfish, with whom Captain Barnacles is going to face his scariest threat ever in the live show (this starfish has got some epic big, sharp spikes, so I can believe he’d be scary when he’s not behind glass!).

Thank you so much Life Like Touring and Octonauts for this very special experience.

Does your Octonauts fan want to see their heroes live, too? Tickets for Octonauts Live! Operation Reef Shield are on sale now at octonautslive.com.au.