neuf=nine=new

Happy New Year!

I hope it's not too late to wish everybody a happy new year. Well of course not.. the year is relatively new.

It's the first month of the year, must at least put up an entry, no?

New year, resolutions abound.. first up - I resolute to at least update my blog once (or more) a month (no biggie, right?). I know I've sung to that tune before but what's said last year was old story and I plan to stick to the new one, heh. And then, I'd like to lead a healthier lifestyle, i.e. to break up more sweat than I did last year and keep a closer tab on what I stuff my face with - gonna try to water down this sweet tooth of mine. With a medical history on my back, I should take better care of my health. I'm happy to say though that I've been able to maintain my weight eversince it has dropped down to its pre-pregnancy 'lightness'.. all thanks to our little princess who keeps me moving around the house for her and after her. So what I'm aiming for in particular is the crux of every women - loose, wobbly flesh. Hence, I'm having a 'firmer-toner' mantra for this. (Anir, wanna pair up for some butt-clenching sessions?) And since your body will respond slower to physical changes with age, I will have to work doubly hard to achieve the desired result.

Another thing on the list to improve would be to brush up on my French. The hubby often said, "You see, you can speak French well if you want to", on those times when I felt like talking nasal-ly. Well I know that and I need to ace it on a technical level. I need to practice my French with different people. I should find some French friends here. So if you're French and happen to read this, est-ce que tu veux être mon ami?

Well I think I've laid out all my resolutions. 3 is a good number.. not too little, not too much.. just about round it up nicely.

Resolutions aside, we have a few things in the pipeline for this year. One of which is, to find a place to call our own. Things are settling down nicely for us here and soon, it'd be a year since we're back and now is a good time to start looking for our own nest. Frankly speaking, we miss having our own place and to mirror what Yati said, I can finally start cooking again. Sure I do cook for hubby - once in a long, long while. What I'm talking here is some serious cooking and there's nothing like cooking in your own kitchen, with your own cutlery and utensils ala ala Nigella's.

Well, it's gonna be a busy year for us, I guess. But what I wish for, most than anything else, is good health, that will see us through to our old age, insya'Allah.

Cheerios, people!

a good one

Who among us here doggedly followed the US presidential election?... yeah, me neither.. until yesterday, when I sat through the voting results cause I was eager to know the outcome.. and when it was announced that Obama's the man, there was a kinda warm feeling that surged through my body. Good job, Americans!

oookay, I'm gonna just recapitulate on what we did the past few days.

So Naila had her first zoo trip last weekend and thanks to hubby's zoo pass, we got in gratos. It was almost a no go when the weather decided to go all fickly on us. We've been jinxed by the weather lately cause each time we planned for an outdoor outing, the sky would turn all grey and stormy. But I'm glad we went ahead with the zoo trip, as the second part of the day saw the sunny side up.



This week started with some serious laughter in the form of Russell Peters. This Canindian is one gutsy guy, dishing out anecdotal jokes about races, stereotypes and the likes that are crack-ass worthy. He's excellent at doing improvisational comic and if you don't wanna be the unwilling star under his spotlight, avoid the front seats. I can't recall the last time I had bouts of bend-over laughs like that. That was good.. kinda 'painful', but good. Well it was the first time we went to a stand-up show and it sure won't be our last.

re-entrance

What telah happened here?? My blog has become a dead space.... writer's block? busy-ness? laziness? Lets say it's a combination of all that. Eversince we're back here, I'm pretty much tuned out from the wired world. Blog, mailboxes, networking sites, have been at the standstill for the longest time. Am I running high and dry on this front? I sure hope not. Let me try to get back on the wired track. I do apologize to those of you who diligently check out my blog, hoping to see some updates, only to exit back out because there're none. This blog has become an unreliable source of information, I know.

I don't even know what to blog about now. I've been out of it for so long that it needs some getting used to again.

Well, A LOT has happened since my last entry and I don't feel like running over old news, so I'm just gonna write about the recent event..

Our first Eid as a family was really special and Naila's really cute in her baju. We're happy that our girl gets to celebrate her first Eid in its full glory. We're gonna see to it that her Christmas here will be as joyous. We wanna make sure that she gets her roots deep in both worlds.

Our girl is now 10 months and a week old and boy, is she growing up fast. She took her first few independent steps barely into her tenth month. I reckon she'll be running, jumping, legs splitting, before reaching her first year... okay, a bit far-fetched there. It just seems that our baby has turned into a bigger baby in a blink of an eye. Grandis pas trop vite, mon bébé.

So we've wrapped up our Raya visits over the weekend and we've had great times with everybody. It's good to be back. Indeed.

Selamat Hari Raya!

yes, I'm this excited when I get them little packets

did we secretly have a boy? hmm...

and so we begin

I'm baaaaack! And you thought I've ungraciously retired from the blogosphere. Well not yet, not now.

SO it has been exactly a month, a week and four days since our return. The three of us are doing fine, despite having to face the initial onset of what seems like a heavy blanket of humidness the moment we stepped out of the airport. Don't get me wrong.. we're more than glad to be in the sunny tropics and away from the cold. But the humidity really gets to us. The constant feeling of sweat and stickiness enveloping the body is really uncomfortable. If I wasn't a fan of fans or air-con before, well I am now.

Ok enough whining. But hey, I'm a Singaporean after all. Wait a minute.. the French likes to complain too, otherwise they wouldn't be so infamously known as a strike-loving nation.

So are we missing France? - largely no but I do miss certain things for sure, namely, the medical convenience I've been getting while over there. But the slight fear I had before we move, concerning finding my footing here with the medical care was unfounded. Obviously, things don't work the same way here but the switch from French way to Sing way went smoothly even if I have to put in a bit more effort on my part. But the big OUCH comes in the form of dollars. If we didn't have to draw out a single centime for my medical expenses back in France, it's cash withdrawal in chunks here. Like I said, things don't work the same way. Well you can't blame us for harping on and on about that (not so much now) but the human nature is bound to react when one's habit (in our case, habit of having our med expenses taken care of by the French system) has been taken away. C'est comme ca la vie.. you win some, you lose some.

I do miss our apartment.. umm well maybe not the apartment per se but having a place to call our own. Our last day in our apartment was busy spent unloading our stuff to the truck and clearing our things but everything was done in a jiff, thanks to the PIL and BIL. It was a poignant moment for me when the time came for us to leave. I was the last person to step out of the apartment and gave one last parting glance before closing the door. I was feeling feeling sad like that.

Well the plan to have our own abode here can take a backseat for now.. we need to find jobs first and have sufficient savings. We are truly grateful to my parents for letting us stay with them for the time being and helping to look after our little girl.

Speaking of the little girl, she has grown into a 'ball' of cuteness and geramness. She is a really happy and active little darling, always smiling and getting excited at the slightest things :)

So what have we been doing since we arrived? We've been moving around the island for job interviews (for hubby), getting acquainted with the medical people here and formalizing the papers for hubby's PR... we've been pretty busy, I'd say. Well hubby's still furiously trying to find a job. He had quite a number of interviews but the bulk of it said he was over-qualified for the job. So, still trying..

On the gastronomical front, I had my Singapore-food deprived tastebuds fully gratified since day one. Well of course there're still a whole lot of other yummy food to discover... yes, me happy here :) Happy to be back with my family, relatives and friends.. happy to be out of the cold.. happy to be back behind the wheels.. happy to have a loving husband and a beautiful daughter. Yes, me happy :D

adieu...

You welcome me with open arms.

You treat me well.

Life was sweet with you.

And I thank you.

Even though I'm leaving you,

the memories I had with you will eternally stay lock in my mind.

Goodbye France.

You've been good to me.. really good.

Till we meet again.

Fin

pondering..

In less than a week, we'll be flying off to Singapore. I can't believe the time has finally come for us to make the big move. We've been waiting for this moment to arrive and although I'm all excited and raring to go, I can't help but feeling morose at the prospect of leaving our home here. Parting the nest that we've been living in for over 4 years (more for hubby).. leaving all that is familiar and habitual.. leaving our independence and the lifestyle that we've built together. It's always sad to leave the ground you've been rooted to for a period of time. Even though I sometimes complain about how things are here, the reality is that I'm happy. But we're moving for a better future.. to a more fulfilling life.. especially so for our little girl.

We'll be starting a new chapter, creating new habits. It's not always easy to change the habits that you've picked up in life but I'm sure we'll adapt to our new lifestyle in no time. It'd be much more challenging for hubby than for me of course but together, we'll make it work.

This is for the best and we're really looking forward to our new journey, the three of us..

he got it!

Now, who applied for PR and got it the first time?.. yep, you guessed it! :D After about 3 and a half months of anticipation, we finally got the all-important response. Hubby literally jumped with joy while on the phone with mummy-in-law who broke the super duper good news to him. He tersengeh-sengeh-ed for a good half hour.. maklumlah, hati ada gumbira.

So now with the PR in hand, it would be much much less of a hassle for him to land a job there. Singapura, here we come!