MsLollipop was jumping up and down the bed, frontflip, backflip, giggle, giggle giggle. 

'Did you know there are 3 kind of lies , mummy'
jump jump jump

'euch, grembler skkerl soire?' (I was brushing my teeth)

'The first lie, is when you tell a lie to actually do some good.' 
'?' (rinsing teeth- eyes open wide with question mark in it- giggles from MsLollipop)
'Like when you tell someone you like the drawing, but you don't like it, but you tell her you do because otherwise you would hurt the feelings."
(I'm rinsed by now) 'Ok' I say 'then how does someone know when you really like something, as you are actually always telling a lie?'
'It's not a lie mummy, it is a little lie that does not count, and if you really do like it you say something like 'awesome', 'great', 'super'. That's when you know someone really likes it.'
'you mean when someone just likes as OK- something you know he actually doesn't ?'
'yeah, and when he really likes it, he acts really exited!'
jump jump jump giggle giggle

'What is the second lie?'
'The second lie is when someone tells a lie to show off, like tell everybody they have a pet or a certain toy but they have not.'
'Why would anybody say that if it is not true?'
'Oh, they just want to belong to the group, it is nothing really, it is not a real lie. They don't want to feel left out, really. it is a bit silly though because everybody knows they don't have a pet or that toy anyway.'
'sounds like you have a lot of lies which are not a lie'
'Mummyyy!!!( (eyes rolling upwards) 

The weather forecast in Singapore. 

I could have taken this picture the first day I arrived or today. It wouldn't matter. The weather forecast is always the same.
To a point I stopped looking at the weather forecast, to a point that it is not a topic for discussion whilst on the phone with Europe. It- is- always - the - same. 

Singapore is situated almost -but not completely- on the equator, at the southern tip of the Malaysian peninsula.
It is hot and humid in Singapore, all year round. Temperatures never drop below 23°C, even at night, and can rise up to 35°C.
Humidity is always higher than 80%. The rainy season is considered from November to January, but it rains often and almost every day. 


Some facts I found on the internet:
Location: Southeastern Asia, islands between Malaysia and Indonesia
Geographic coordinates: 1 22 N, 103 48 E
Area: total: 647.5 sq km (23kmX42km) 
Land: 637.5 sq km
Water: 10 sq km
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 193 kmLowest point: Singapore Strait 0 m
Highest point: Bukit Timah 166 m


When we arrived last year we promised ourselves a few things:
we would never put on the aircon.
we would walk to school (10min) and the MRT station (15min). 
we would swim every day
we would eat outside every day.
I would wear my Russian high heels.

well ... never say never, I guess.

We do sleep with aircon now. It took us a while to accept it though. We tried everything from sleeping naked to sleeping with the fan under a blanket, from putting the aircon just 2hours before sleeping time to finally leaving it on all night. I had to get used to the noise it makes, a constant background humming. It wasn't so much the noise itself as the fact it covered up the streetnoise and the noises outside your room. I couldn't hear MsLollipop crying at night when she was having a bad dream. She has learned to snuggle up in our room now, when that happens. 

We do walk back home from school (as there is an ice cream shop on the way) , but in the morning we catch the bus (2 min walk) to cover the two bus stops to school, or the MRT. It is either that or start school or office in a drenched shirt / uniform. 

We do swim every day and eat out every day. Bliss.

I only wear my Russian high heels on very rare occasions now. I've turned to flipflops, toeshoes or however you call them very quickly. You know, the shoes with one thingy between your big toe and the one next to it. It is just so much easier ...

We learned some new 'nevers' :
Never leave your house without sunglasses and suncream.
Take a shawl with you, not for outside but for inside as they tend to put the aircons on 'freezing' in taxi's, restaurants and malls. 
Never leave without an umbrella. Umbrellas work both ways here, as a protection against the sun, and against the rain. It can rain every day. Usually in the afternoon when I have to pick up MsLollipop, or in the morning when we have to leave for school.

The first time we got soaked to the bone was when we still walked to school. When it rains it pours. It doesn't drizzle in Singapore. It comes down with bucket loads. It is actually a warm rain, but it soakes you in minutes. Even under an umbrella you are wet from toe to knickers. Somehow the rain climbs up again as soon as it hits the ground. Very peculiar phenomenon.

Life comes to a short stand still when it rains. Taxi's are fully booked and hard to catch. Busses and cars have to slow down to be able to advance. People will take cover and wait. It never rains for long and the downpour lasts mostly for an hour or so.

I have become fond of this rain. It briefly returns the oxygen in the air. After a downpour the streets are clean , the air is fresh and the humidity is temporarily bearable. I can live with this one long season. But I do start to miss the other three. The colours and smells of autumn. The cold winters with fresh clean air. The expectations of spring, when promises hang in the morning mist. Opening a window in the morning and breathing in a clean gush of fresh air. Summer will be spent in Belgium, and we will embrace those long nights outdoor where you need to cuddle up close under a blanket or a sweater.

Meanwhile I enjoy my breakfast in the early sun, my swim in the afternoon and my dinner outside in the evening.
Life is good.

Enjoy!
Evelyn

It started when I was at boarding school in Antwerp. 
It was a weekly boarding school. Every monday morning my dad drove me to school and I would return on friday. He has done this every monday for those six years. My dad is not much of a talker, but we have the best conversations after a good meal, when we go down to the local pub to have a pint of Belgian draught beer. I love my dad. 

In my third year at boarding school -I must have been 14 years old- I was allowed to go out in town on a wednesday afternoon. Oh yes, in Belgium the kids in school have free on a wednesday afternoon. They are so lucky!

In town I would find myself a public phone, put in a 20 Bfr (Belgian Franc - yes) coin in and phone my mum.

'Hi mum, its me'
'Hi sweetheart, how are you?'

Have you seen them? 


Those strange people walking around Singapore under a black umbrella? 
They have been spotted everywhere, walkind on sidewalks, but also in the MRT and in shopping malls.

Have you seen them?

I have, I was one of them.

Last night MrGuzzi and I went to the opening of the Singapore Arts Festival that will be held until the 2nd of June.

We started the evening with a stroll in the Esplanade park to get a feeling of what was happening.
We were taken on a stroll in the park by the Centaurs of "Flux" - who then showed us an amazing piece with shiny black horses and a fierce latin lady.

"Umbrella for 2" is a 1h walk (dress comfortably , bring water...) in Singapore under a black umbrella with headphones that provide music, noise, conversation. It is a very awkward feeling to walk around detached from the street noise but completely surrounded by the noise and comments in your headphones. You are observing the world, but in the same way the world is observing you -those strange people walking under an umbrella in a shopping mall ...

www.singaporeartsfest.com

Enjoy and have fun!

Evelyn

It is that time of the year in expat world. Somewhere someone decides somebody is desperately needed in someplace, but then that somebody has to be replaced so... somewhere someone is also needed in that farawayland and gets 'the' phone call.

It feels a little bit like a carousel slowly set in motion. At first the news of those who leave is like a dripping tap, but by the start of the summer holidays it is a flood of tears.

Depending on the flavour of the country and the personal feelings, some are sad to go, while others are sad to stay. 
The husband will come home. "I have good news and bad news - what would you like to hear first" 
The good news might be you are going, but excuse me 'where' are we going? 
Or the good news might be where you go, but did you wanna leave? 
Just as things were falling into its place and your friends were growing into extended family, all changes. 

Mixed emotions are everywhere and the world map is lighting up a pinpoint for every new city that will be blessed with the appearance of some of your friends.

The network is set in motion. Everybody surely knows someone who used to live in 'farawyistan' or better they still live there. Here is the number/mail/sype/facebook. 
Information is passed around and mails about where to live, what school to pick and what sports are reasonably accessable fly over the internet. 

Trips are taken to this new 'noideawhereitis'city to 'look-and-see'. 

It is very exciting to go on such a trip as it is the start of your new adventure. It is a treat for the two of you to be away for a couple of days to flavour the new. 'Noideawhereitis'city suddenly becomes a pinpoint on your map, and it changes to 'letsgothere'city in a matter of days. The trip is exhausting but adrenaline is flowing. You can conquer the world! 
In merely three days you visit about 20 houses, 6 schools and meet new colleagues over diners at night. You smile and laught, you wonder if your n°1 can continue his swimming, and if n°2 will feel at home at that new school. You smile and laugh and make mental notes of things to take and things you can leave behind, things to do, things to ask, things to remember. 

The ones that got the call are busy. The list of things they still want /need or must do before they go grows. 

Goodbyes are everywhere but how many times can one say goodbye? 
Regular friday playdates at the pool with your friends will soon be over, no more saturday tennisplays with your tennispartner and as for that bbq on sunday ... all changes. 

Whether you are happy to go or not, wether you wanted to or not, in the end we all do it for that excitement and that feeling of adventure. That chance of new beginnings, that first smell of the new city you will call 'home'.  The friends you will find but have not met yet...

Summer holidays are coming up soon, and they usually are a big relief after the extended goodbye parties. We will all go on holiday to our 'home'country and have a great time of meeting up with friends and family. The summer will be hot and full of long evenings in the garden or at the seaside. We will forget there is movement in the air.

But August comes and so does the start of the new school year. Moves happen, new friends are made, new cities wait to be discovered.

For those who do not move it is a wellcome home in your other 'home'country. Sounds and smells are familiar, roads are easy and schools know your name. Familiar faces will show up in class and best friends you do not know yet exist are waiting for you.

I love and hate this time of year. I love the feeling of exitement of the new that is hanging in the air, even if we are not the ones that move, but I hate the goodbyes (allthough I love the parties). I love the start of the school year though, as that is the part of the game we are really addicted to. The new, the undiscovered, the road untravelled.
I can start over again , every year- every city.

Xxx
Evelyn

We had a very busy weekend. 

On Thursday it was our 15th wedding anniversary.
Mr Guzzi took me to a delicious restaurant in the Fullerton Bay hotel.
Afterwards we went high up on the roof to enjoy the view. 
It was a romantic dinner with a romantic view.

Happy Anniversary MrGuzzi! I love you...

On Friday it was MsLollipop's 9th birthday.
9 years and 9 months ago I wrote:
I am waiting. Any moment now I can get the green light to start our IVF. But my periods will not come.
We have arranged everything, but my body does not want to follow my plans. It never does, does it. 
I am so angry with it! 
MrGuzzi suggests it might be psychological. The hope of becoming pregnant keeping my periods back. 
It sounds a bit a far stretched but who knows. I am ready to believe anything at the moment. 
I cannot be pregnant though, I know it cannot happen. 
The required examination at the Moroccan clinic last week was a go for the IVF, my belly was clean - empty. 
I am so restless, I have a headache and I have a nasty pain in my back and tummy.
The typical signs so why won't they just come! 
If they come late, the whole planning will be 'late'. 
Tickets need to be rebooked... 
After the last fiasco I made a promise to myself , I would never ever buy a pregnancy test again!
But the next thing I find myself in the pharmacy buying one, 'for my own peace of mind'. 
I hate myself for standing there, feeling utterly ridiculous.
At home I quickly test, leaving the thing carelessly in the bathroom.
I do not want to do this. I hate all this.
I go down and decide to prepare dinner, to calm my nerves and occupy my brain.
I do loose track of time , and then the test pops back into my mind.
I go to the bathroom to check it out.

Time stands still...

I still cannot describe that feeling, that moment. I still get goosebumps thinking about it.
I must have looked pretty stupid standing there , at first not really realizing what I was looking at. 

Should it be 1 or 2 marks ... ??

I have to look into the bin to retrieve the guide. My hope is surfacing and I loose it.
I get so angry at myself, for hoping, for being silly. 
Frustration, anger, hope, fear, distrust ... too many emotions mingle in my body.
And then I do read it: 2 marks ... I am pregnant.
This cannot be true, this is not real. 

but it was... 

9 months later MsLollipop was born.

9 years later and I am making a birthday cake.
A raspberrie cake ... Ms Lollipop's favourit.
The one MrGuzzi promised her the night before she was born. 
He promised her lobster, champagne and a raspberriecake for dessert if she would just pop out.


and she did the next morning...

Happy birthday my sweet MsLollipop.
I love you to bits!

mama

When I take the bus in Singapore there are some things that always catch my eye.
First is the amount of phones and headphones. The whole bus is scrolling, listening to music or playing a game. Maybe sending a txt or an email. It is all non-verbal and thus it is very quiet on a bus in Singapore.

Then a group of teenagers enters the bus. 
You would suspect some noise here. Some sillyness and laughter, some pushing. 
Not in Singapore. The youth -in general- behaves so well it is almost scary. 
I certainly have different memories of me being a teenager... 
They are very busy with their phones and headsets as well, I hardly hear them talk. 
They are loaded with books.
They behave well, paying for their ride, giving up seats to the elderly. 
They all wear a uniform. They all wear glasses. 

Singapore is a meritocratic state. 

Meritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education,determined through evaluations or examinations.

After the daily school routine the Singaporean children go 'en masse' to enrichment courses.
As in - school after school, private tutoring, extra lessons...
Usually Chinese , English , maths and science. 
I don't think they play a lot. 

Hence the outburst of myopia amongst the population. 

I have never seen so many children with glasses. 

MrGuzzi showed me an article the other day about the link between playing outside and nearsightedness. In short it states that outdoor play might reduce or slow down nearsightedness in children. It probably works the other way as well. The less you play outside in bright sunllight, the more the nearsightedness might progress. That, and a good portion of genetics as well, probably. The business is thriving, you see 'glasses shops' everywhere.

Another thriving business is the enrichment courses.
They  are everywhere. Every corner, every street. 

Singapore is a meritocratic state, and the enrichment courses are big businesses.

They openly advertise with the results of the children that attended their class. 

even on the bus ...

Imagine having your child's school results on the back of the bus ...

MsLollipop had a day off today - she spent the whole day playing outside, getting dirty and tired.
No bus for her today.

Love to all of you
Evelyn