On my way to work (II)

On my way to work (I)

The Old Dame

I drive a 14-year-old blue Hyundai with a one-litre engine. She’s like an old lady, a bit brittle, a little fragile, you need to show her a lot of love and you need to work her the right way. That means, no hard revving or overworking her uphill. That means being gentle and slow, and I don’t care if I’m holding up the queue on the road. She’s old, you know. Would you ask your grandmother to run up a hill?

We only bought her for £650 last year and due to her age, we have had to sent her to the “hospital” for a number of times now. The most recent repairs were the most extensive and cost us £600, almost how much the car’s worth. She had this wrong, that wrong, this to be replaced, that to be fixed. I suppose that happens when one gets old.

Despite all that, I am somewhat reluctant to just get rid of her. Afterall, she takes me to my local supermarket and carries home my weekly groceries, she took us to North Wales (5-hour epic journey) and back, she is pretty reliable really when she’s not poorly and of course, she is my first proper car. You can’t help but get sentimental when it comes to your first love, isn’t it?

I wish I took a picture

I took Lucien to the playground this afternoon. Within 5 minutes of arriving there, he had walked or more like slipped into a muddy puddle while I took my eyes off him for one second. By the time I shouted, “No!”, he was already on his back, lying in the puddle. I walked toward him quickly to try to get him out but the muddy grounds made things a bit harder than I thought and I almost slipped too. So I tried my best to get a good grip and rescue the little pig who was just quietly lying there wondering what had happened. (I wish I took a picture of him).

He wasn’t hurt by the fall but was probably quite shocked by the cold and wet sensation of being in a wet puddle. With no towels or tissues on me, I had to just put him in the stroller and walk home briskly so he didn’t get too cold. I did contemplate whether or not we could stay on and play but I guess it wasn’t the best idea when his trousers were soaking wet. So when I got home I peeled off his wet stinking clothes and put him straight in a warm bath, chucked the soiled garments in the machine then cleaned the dirty stroller.

Bleah, I should have just stayed home with him and watched telly the whole day.

Settling back

It was freezing when we got back to the UK. We thought we would escape the worst of the cold by going away to Singapore for a month in January. But a week before we were due to return, it started to snow and flights were cancelled. Ours wasn’t, thankfully. But the journey was LONG. 26 hours of travelling with a toddler was no fun at all.

Our fridge was barren for days. Every day I craved hot crispy bacon rolls for lunch but instead made do with marked down salami. We spent pretty well the whole week resting at home, getting used to the time difference, the cold weather, the new routines. Getting over such a long journey takes a while but we are all more or less there. Finally on Sunday, we drove to the supermarket to stock up on food, and the car broke down. (I seem to attract a lot of drama). But we got the food, we got in AA to help, and we got home.

I’m down with a cold and I am still exhausted. I wish I could stay in bed and have all my meals prepared for me. But instead I am back at work this week. Well I have to in order to be able to afford our holidays! So I’ll grin it and bear it and leave you with my favourite photo of late. My orchids at sunset.

Favourite holiday moments…

Bali: Spent five wonderfully relaxing days here with R. Highlights of this trip include daily dips in our private pool in Ubud and riding in heavy rain to visit Mt Batur.

Reunion dinner: I make it a point to return to Singapore every Chinese New Year so I can sit down with the entire family to have a feast. This year we went to Si Chuan Dou Hua Restaurant on the 60th floor of UOB plaza. There were fireworks and WHAT A VIEW!

Chinese New Year: Lucien receiving his hongbao on the first day of CNY in his Chinese suit. The cheeky monkey has also learnt to say GONG XI GONG XI complete with hand gestures.

Sentosa: Left the boys at home and stayed for two nights at The Sentosa Resort & Spa with the girls. Ate, talked, fooled around, talked more, laughed, went on crazy rides in Universal Studios, ate more, talked even more then ended our time together with a spa session. Girly staycations will now be our yearly tradition.

Marina Bay Sands: Another two nights were spent at Marina Bay Sands with my family. Lucien went swimming for the first time, in the hotel pool on the 57th floor. My legs turned jelly after taking this night shot at the same height.

Home: There is no where else I’d rather be. Bye bye Singapore, see you again in June.

A big difference

It will be a real shock for us to go from this (30C)…

… to this (0C) in a day’s time…

I always seem to pick the “wrong” time to return to the UK. This will be the third time I am returning in the midst of heavy snow, and everything in Britain will no doubt come to a standstill because of the white stuff.

Hobbit House

What a wonderful and magical house! It looks so much like something from a fairy tale that it’s hard to imagine that a couple with two young children actually live here. Don’t you love the grass on the roof and the tree trunks in the house? Can you imagine it only costs £3000 to build and it’s not only charming but more importantly designed for ecological living? I wish I had a hobbit house! More here.

Happy New Year!

Yesterday I spent four hours in town by myself, checking out the winter sale. I spent an hour (ONE HOUR!) in the Cath Kidston store, armed with £90 worth of vouchers. Everything was on sale. I looked through every part and every corner of the store, touched everything and soaked in all the prettiness, and took my time to choose gifts for myself and friends.

When the cashier told me all the items I had put in my basket rung up to £75, I said, “So much? Surely that’s not right, is it?” She went to get her manager and we checked all my purchases. Apparently, it WAS right, I did bloody well spent £75 and at that point I wished I could have dug a hole to hide my big-ass embarrassed face. It was a LONG time ago since I have spent so much in a single receipt, apart from when we go food shopping.

Right after I left the Cath Kidston store, I went straight into the Jo Malone shop and blew £78 on cologne and a candle. Spending so much money evoked a lot of guilt but I decided what the hell I should treat myself at least once a year. I’d planned on getting these for myself for a long time and I experienced what I can only describe as a wonderful cathartic release from the girl who normally only ransacks the sale bins.

The sales staff who served me took care and attention in packing my purchases: getting the right-sized boxes, stuffing it with black tissue paper, wrapping the the boxes with beautiful black grosgrain ribbons so expertly they came out as perfect bows. Her level of customer service reminded me very much of Rowan Atkinson in Love Actually, except of course she was a lot better looking!

As you can see, I’ve hidden my purchases in my drawer so my husband doesn’t find them.

Don’t tell on me!

Happy 2012!

Merry Christmas!

My Christmas tradition every year is to buy my husband a chocolate advent calender from Thornton’s, and we share 24 pieces of little chocolates among the two of us.