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Settling in

{view from iced window upstairs - old home)

Back home: An uneventful and smooth flight back to Basel but a wonderful welcome at the airport. I was greeted by E and LE - the latter rushing and jumping towards me. I had missed him so very much there was nothing to do but to drop my bag and catch him for a long, big hug. It's so nice to see him again - I really (100x) love him.   

It's snowing: E and I talked about taking LE out for a walk in the forest on Sunday - after I arrived but reconsidered when it started snowing. We subsequently kept warm, playing indoors and watching cartoons on television. It is still snowing but LE's teachers and school mates are made of sterner stuff: this morning LE joined them for his weekly activities in the forest.  

Where am I again? I'm jet lagged. This time I'm not only feeling disoriented but also achy, like I've caught a bug from my fellow passengers. Dangdamnit. I know I'm back in Basel now (and not Singapore or KL or Spain or HK or Copenhagen) but still I'm not feeling entirely settled: we are making trips to and fro our old house and new apartment as the latter is still missing many things including much needed wifi.    

Sniff sniff

I'm sitting at the airport lounge waiting to board the flight back home with a lump in my throat after waving goodbye to G&T. Dangdamit - How I wish G and I live closer to each other.

Sing-sing

It has been a while

It has been some time since I last wrote,  I know.

We had to leave the idyllic Langkawi Island after 2 nights to spend some time with the family in KL. It was a mostly rushed affair in KL, as we had to squeeze in a few things within a short space of time. I was also knackered, working late at night on my term paper which resulted in little-sleep-more-clumsy-and disoriented-me. And then we returned to Sing-Sing to do our respective things like work, meet friends, colleagues and most important of all, spend time with family members including adorable little boys.

Amid all the activities, E and I succeeded in carving out an evening of a 1-1 session to connect and debrief properly. E surprised me with dinner reservations at a restaurant near where we had our first date in 2010; I reciprocated by showing up with extended eyelashes and blow dried hair. The next day we escaped again, where we ended up watching a film (Sherlock Holmes) which we both enjoyed.

E has departed for a few more places around the world. I'm still in Sing-Sing where I've had the pleasure of celebrating the lunar new year with G and family and friends and ran in the morning these past few days with G&T at the nearby park. The next few days will see me flying to KL and back before hopping on the plane to CH.

We are 40

{Birthday party - Langkawi Island}

 

We (G and I) had a lovely party (organised/hosted by T and helped by E) on Langkawi Island. It was magical; a number of old close friends showed up to help us celebrate. 

I panicked about turning 40 a few months back. But that's all over now. I'm older and wiser i.e. calm and happy to be *alive* and to have so much love in my life.

I'm determined to make this year and decade the best one evah!

 

Around me (while I wait for the tram)

 

New discovery

I discovered this blog when I was mooching about in the bedroom in Spain. I love it.

Our new apartment

(The First supper)

I'm loving our new apartment. It's still barely furnished and all the empty space is making me feel calm and good. We are still missing ceiling lights and are making do with table lamps and fairy lights; this makes the living room dark but cozy.

Last night, E and I had our first supper at home, consisting mostly of salad (we are on a diet after the excesses of the last weeks) and accompanied by Drop Dead Diva. Afterwards, I went back to work (writing my term paper on Afghanistan) while E watched a few American dramas in Spanish.

Our new sofa is extremely comfortable; our bed is even better. Truly, I do think we did well with our choice of mattress and pillows considering the improvement in our quality of sleep.

I had brought a few boxes from HK to the new apartment. I found a few items broken (a wine decanter, sake jug and 2 tier cake stand) while unpacking my "kitchen" boxes. Sigh, a little bit sad as they were items I favoured (unsurprisingly having discarded all the things I didn't feel strongly about). Mais, cie la vie -they are only possessions which can be replaced in the grander scheme of things I suppose.

We are leaving for Singapore later today. Business class tickets courtesy of E as an early birthday pressie - Big YAY. I must remember to stock up on Swiss chocolates at the airport.

Basel

Back in Basel but not for long. It's not sunny here, unlike in Zaragoza. The skies are grey and it's dark outside. Not too bad as at least, it's not windy and raining, which was the case everyday in the UK Midlands (yes, yes, I am a broken record). We spent most of yesterday unpacking and packing for our few nights in the new apartment and upcoming trip to Singers (G and I turn 40 this weekend!). I'm really looking forward to celebrating our birthday and being in the heat again.

I can be obsessive and annoying I know, repeating an incident over and over again. The last big episode was about losing a pair of spanking new wolfords tights which I just couldn't find in my bag as I was dressing to say I do. Poor E and G had to hear me go on about it for days afterwards while we were in Denmark and then Asia. We came back home and I still couldn't find it, despite turning our bedroom upside down - cue for E to hear me go on (and on) with greater force...until last night - when I found it while unravelling my wardrobe! Amazing grace. YaY! 

Next obsession nipped in the bud: E reckons that I will not stop going ack over the VAT incident as I do about my tights (and before that, the adapter I left behind on the train to Germany). He mentioned he would compensate me to minimise the obsession but I didn't take him so seriously. Until last night when he actually did it! Rright after I waved the tights to him. Haha. He's convinced that it's best to nip my VAT thing in the bud i.e. before I get worse seeing as I won't have much else to obsess about having found the tights. As if (yes!)

Home sweet home

Hurrah, I mean Yay, for we have arrived back home!

The departure was a bit fraught: waking up before 4am, squeezing all the last few items in our bags (breaking a nail in the process) and then putting all the bags in the car boot for the 2 hour + journey in a tetris like way for our trip to Barcelona airport with the PIL. Passing security check points with so many layers of clothes, boots and lap tops that needed to be deposited in trays and a wandering 4 year old added to the chaos.

Damnation: I realised after we boarded the plane that I had forgotten to get my VAT forms stamped at the customs. The refund amount was substantial enough and even an inducement for the shopping. To think that all that effort of getting the forms and collecting the receipts was for nada de nada.

The picture below was taken yesterday, in the city, while I was walking on the main street on the way to Cortes Ingles to get the VAT forms sorted out. The statues have very long slim legs which I envy.