Day of my life

Today in class
we were to compare the life of france and home country
and to think about our daily schedule.
In case anyone is thinking that im leaving a taitai life
or a more nua life than in Singapore..
This is my average day..

when is my working day
0730 - Wake up & prepare myself
0800 - prepare breakfast
0820 - eat breakfast with husband
0845 - leave home for school
0900 - 1300 Being a hardworking student
1300 - 1500  Lunch, household chores/homework/nua
1500 - 1930 Slave of children
2000 arrive home (lucky husband often cooks dinner when i work)
2100 Completed dinner and clean up
2300 - sleep

When is my non-working day
Morning same as above
1300 - 1700 lunch, grocery shopping, household chores, homework, running errands
*On some rare days, I can go out with my classmate
1730 - Prepare dinner
2000 - Completed dinner and clean up
2300 - sleep

Looking at my schedule,
it seems i have more free time as compared to worklife in sg
but i dont think so.
I cant believe I feel more tired at the end of the day
being a housewife!
I guess its really a job that looks easy 
and misunderstood...

First (French) brunch..

I think brunch and hi-tea are very female oriented
I lost count of the times
that i will be happy to meet my female friends for brunch or hi-tea
I remembered an ep of himym
where ted mentioned that no one goes to brunch alone 
or 2 men going for brunch..
well, quite true as husband never went for brunch!
haha

anyway, we received a groupon voucher for brunch
as husband's birthday gift from my parents-in-laws
so we finally had a chance to taste a brunch buffet!
Husband and i were so looking forward to it
that we made sure to be there with an empty stomach
especially im quite well-trained in buffet in Singapore..
hehe

we went there around 12pm
and it was quite packed.
We had a free hot drink each
and ordered the sinfully hot chocolate..
I always felt that hot chocolate is a little too sweet in france
especially when they provide sugar for you to add on
thankfully, the hot chocolate wasnt too sweet..

I was a little disappointed by the spread

I was expecting few types of eggs, smoked salmon and cakes

For the hot menu,  there was only scramble eggs, sausage, bacons, potatoes

hidden in the metal boxes of the picture

For the cold menu,

there was the cold cuts, 3 types of salads and cheese

There was a small cereal corner, fruits cocktails,

yogurt, 1 kind of cake, donuts, pancakes

and breads..

I think the bakery near home makes better bread..

haha

If you noticed the almost empty containers,

you will realized that the refills are slow..

Husband couldnt even start because there were no plates

-.-''

We still tried our best to eat as much as possible

but frankly the type of food made it hard for 3rd serving

We had a free champagne each

but i swap mine for a hot tea after the meal..

Although buffet is a french word,

I think asians are doing a better job in creating buffets...

Im drooling for international buffets in Singapore!

And this, I felt it was more a hotel's breakfast buffet menu..

Well, at least we done our first brunch

and spent some quality time out of the house on a Sunday..

whats cooking?

Been long since I blog about food
with work and classes
I hadnt been really creative
in my cooking..
and food shopping..
hmm

Longans red date drink:
thanks to the red dates and longans
that my sis brought over.
I can find both ingredients here
just a little too expensive for me

Failed attempt of tempura
taste good but looks bad on photo
since the paste didnt stayed on
add an instant udon to complete the meal

Katsu don with korean style spinach

Everything went fine

except I didnt had enough eggs

and no sauce

argghh

Black pepper beef (sg sauce)

with crab sauce brocoli

I think I pretty much do well

when it comes to asian home food

French fish stew

we had this dish at a cafe

and I decide to make it at home

but I cant find the name of the dish

and the closest was

britanny fish stew

taste good as my first try

at cooking french from scratch

funny article

10 idioms only the French understand:

1. Est-ce que je te demande si ta grand-mère fait du vélo? | Mind your own damn business

Translates literally as, “Do I ask you if your grandma bikes?” This is a rather funny (though not for the person receiving the insult) and sarcastic way to tell someone to get lost.

Example:

A: Is your divorce procedure with Ginny coming along, John?
B: Est-ce que je te demande si ta grand-mère fait du vélo?

2. Avoir un poil dans la main | To be lazy

In France, those suffering from chronic motivational deficit are said “to have a hair growing in the palm of their hand.” If it’s reached the thickness of a ponytail and you can braid it, you probably need a good coup de pied au cul (kick in the ass).

Example:

A: Can’t Teresa do it?
B: Forget it, she’s got a poil dans la main the length of a cooked spaghetti noodle.

3. Chier une pendule | To make a big fuss

Be warned! It’s a pretty rude way to tell someone to calm the freak down, but you ought to admit that “pooping out a clock” is a rather creative and effective way to describe an overblown situation.

Example:

A: Oh my God! What happened? What did you do?!
B: Jeez, you’re not going to chier une pendulejust because I totaled the car, are you?

4. Se faire poser un lapin | To be stood up

Yeah, if you’ve been waiting at the café for an hour and the guy you met at the club last night still hasn’t shown up, you were probably “given a rabbit.” Move on. He must be a dink.

Example:

A: Aren’t you going to meet the blond you were grinding with last night on the dance floor?
B: Nah, man, I’m too busy pumping iron at the gym. I’ll probably lui poser un lapin.

5. Avoir une araignée au plafond | To be not quite right in the head

In France, we like to think if you’re one sandwich short of a picnic, you “have a spider hanging from the roof of your skull.” How delightfully childish of us to explain insanity by describing someone’s head to be as empty and dirty as an old attic!

Example:

A: You know the girl from Safeway, the cashier? She told me I looked like Ryan Gosling!
B: Yeah, she’s got une araignée au plafond. Didn’t you know? Sounds like it got worse over the past week, though.

6. Ne pas attacher son chien avec des saucisses | To be cheap

In France, if you “don’t tie your dog with a sausage line,” you’re cheap. We’ve got high standards for our canine friends.

7. Se faire rouler dans la farine | To be cheated

The French have trouble stepping away from food for too long, so even when we’re being cheated, we’re being “rolled in flour” like a wholesome loaf of bread in the making.

Example:

A: I slept with Rocco last night, you know, the pizza chef from La Cucina Ristorante.
B: Nice! Are you guys dating?
A: No, he hasn’t called back even though he said he would. I think I just got roulée dans la farine.
B: Quite literally…

8. Être une bonne poire | To be naïve

If you really think Rocco, the womanizing pizza maker, ever meant to call you back after last night’s events, there’s no doubt, you’re “a ripe pear.”

9. Aller faire téter les puces | To go to bed

Here’s something that’ll make you want to stay in a hostel in France! “To go let the fleas feed on you” is one of the many ways French people explain they’re going to hit the sack. You may want to check out the sheets before crashing.

10. Courir sur le haricot de quelqu’un | To piss someone off

This is one of my personal favorites. My mom uses it all the time when she wants me to stop nagging her (now, what does that say about our relationship, I wonder?)

I always picture a little person, breathless, “running on a long green bean” 

Joke aside, back in the day, un haricot was a slang term for a toe. Now it all makes sense — if you’re running on someone’s toe, they’re likely to get annoyed, indeed.

This article made my day!!!

bisous..

updates on my life!

So life had become busy
after the lims left.
my class started last thursday
and im really enjoying it!
its nice to be in a structured class,
opportunites to practice (write, speak, listen),
meeting people with similar french level,
and not feeling stupid to speak bad french..
hehe

According to husband,
I improved alot with the class,
but I think is just because of the practice,
more confidence
and less shy to speak french
oh well, I definitely need to improve
and pass the exam in december!

Anyway, my class has about 15paxs
mainly from southeast asia!
and I managed to befriend china lady
who is a singaporean pr
and speaks more singlish than me!
School is really the best place to know friends,
im glad to be able to find people
who understands my loneliness in paris
and the daily struggles in French!

Thankfully the class is 10min walk from home
I have classmates who travel 30mins daily
to attend class!
I cant imagine if im in the same situation
to travel so far for 9am class
on monday to friday
for 6 weeks!

However, it is tiring to be immersed in french
for 4hours/day
Lucky, the teacher is great!
she is very expressive and funny
despite that, she is not to only use french in class
im appreciate her expressive body language!

Im sort of in the medium level in class
so the class is managable
but definitely french overload at times..

Apart from class,
work continues every week
but I am only required to work
2 afternoons per week
I cant imagine if I have to work daily
after class..

Things have been better at work
im still trumatised by the 3yo
but her mum understands is not easy
so she helps out in any way
that I need not be alone with 3yo
definitely less stressful for me
and the 3yo

although I still get the occasional 
"go away"
"dont come"
"i want mummy and not you"
but definitely has become better
that I need not be alone with her
and the other 2 girls are fine with me..

From a housewife
to my current life,
I definitely do enjoy the current lifestyle
but I miss sleeping in
haha, humans are never satisfied!

Lims in Europe - Paris to London

It was time for the lims to leave paris
for their last part of their trip to london
As they were catching the eurostar,
which required them to catch in 30mins before departure
we left home relatively early

It was hard to think that it will be a long time again 
before we will see them again in Singapore
Despite it was the peak hours,
the trains were managable
Husband managed to send them halfway before he left for work
while I sent them to the station

Maybe because we kept mentioning to the kids
that they were leaving us since the day before
the kids didnt seemed to be affected 
when we said goodbyes
and the kids were home sick..
haha

However, it was definitely difficult for me and sister
it was a tearful goodbye
it seems that the fact that i migrated
finally settled into our minds
since it was a little rush for the immigration process
we didnt had much time to say goodbye

although when they were in london,
i felt good to know they are just 2 hours away from me
before they return home 
and be 13 hours away from me
*sigh*

The funny update from the lims was that my sister cried
when she found some chocolate buns
that i packed into their bag as snacks
the kids were wondering why mummy was crying
about chocolate buns
haha

Husband and i suffered from post-lims blues
husband commented that the home seems so quiet
without the kids
and he definitely enjoyed the time with lims
for me, i was really happy to spend time with lims
after so many months away from Singapore
and to share with them about my life in Paris!
okay, and the singaporean goodies that they brought..

In any case,
the visit helped to pushed us to plan for our Singapore trip
I am happy that we finally booked our airtickets
and will be back in Singapore in Feb 2015!

Lims in Europe - Paris (Day 4)

It was the last full day that I will see the lims
before they head to London and home
And after all the mad rush and moving about
it was the most relax day
we started breakfast but dilly-dally to left home

Thereafter, I brought them to Champs Elysees
to bug a bag to replace the lost bag
and to visit the 'most beautiful avenue of the world'
okay, no one was impressed
haha, i guess coming from the island of shopping malls
shopping avenue doesnt really impress us

Since arc of triomphe was near
we went up for a visit
its the first time i went up
and i was very thankful that we had kids with us
that we avoided the need to climb up 280+ steps
and just took the lift!

The view was nice but too cold for me to enjoy it
and we finally took our first family photo
a stranger offered to take the photo
We were paranoid that he may take the phone and run
since we are 280+steps above ground
i guess we can catch him if he do so

And definitely, the touristy photo
Funny thing is i took like 5 photos from the same angle
and that was an asian lady posing for her photo
so we kept got photobomb
haha

 We saw the same street performer in Versailles
but this time Isaac got scared when he suddenly moved
and made a screeching sound
The boy end up crying and needed to be carried around
when we walked back the street performer again
he was well-prepared by covering his eyes and his nose

After letting the lims taste the french fastfood for lunch

we left for jardin d'acclaimation

Actually i found this online and wasn't sure whether it will be good

since it was near champs elysees, we went!

And the park was great!

Apart from being the usual park,

it has outward bounds kids playground,

some rides,

a liittle farm

and normal playgrounds.

I think it was really much better than i expected.

Again, the park was relatively empty to our benefit.

Apart from the scare i got, from the ducks following us

because shauna fed them bread

everything was great!

And i realised it was a LV effort.

We ended the day by taking the choo choo train to metro

and the long way home with tired kids

The kids were fine after a shower

and we managed to watch kids movie before they go to bed

and my sister starts her task to pack up.. 

Lims in Europe - Paris (Day 3)

Finally the day arrived!
We were going to Disneyland!
The last time husband and I went disneyland was feb 2013
it was Valentine's day
and cold cold winter
that some rides were closed!
This time round, we were planning to try out more rides!
Especially the new ratatouille ride!

The night before husband prepared snacks 
to save some lunch money
The morning started early with the usual breakfast
but everyone seems to be on a fast forward mode
there was lesser dilly-dally
and we left home to disneyland!

On the train there, husband asked whether i had the tickets
which i had them (for the 2 of us)
so i jokingly asked my sister whether she brought her tickets
and she forgotten them at home!
I think they really forgot to bring their brains to Europe! haha
Anyway, thankfully the counter helped us to print the tickets
I cant imagine if we have to find some place to print them
since paris is not really print-shops-friendly
and disneyland is in the suburbs
Phew!

Although my sister and family had been to DL hongkong
DL paris was definitely bigger and older
With halloween coming, there were some halloween decorations!
Shauna was wearing her frozen princess dress but it was so cold
we saw many lil princess wearing their jackets over their dresses
but this young lady was ready to brave the cold!

We were surprised that the kids were not excited about the mascots

For Isaac, maybe because he is a scaredy cat haha

but the kids still shouted names of the mascot when we walk past them.

The weather was cool, it was monday,

not a school holiday

so the queues were managable.

This time round,

I managed to take more rides!

Thunder mountains roller coaster,

pirates of the carribbean ride,

Ratatouille ride...

The longest queue was for the nemo roller coaster

which we queue for about 30 mins?

Apparently, it was fun for sister, husband and shuana

but i hate it...

okay, not a great fan of roller coaster

especially when its a spinning seat..arghh

Its funny that shauna loves the thrilling rides

while Isaac loves the 'enjoyable' rides

usually shuana will complain the rides are boring

she was nice to accompany Isaac and husband for the rides..

Oh yes, husband is a fan of 'enjoyable' rides..

especially, its a small world after all....

haha

Moving around the 2 parks were fine

but i think the kids enjoyed the main park more

only difficulty is we need to change the stroller

everytime when we changed park

oh the ratatouille ride was a long slow queue too!

Probably about 40mins wait

sadly, it was as great as i imagined

it felt like a family-friendly version of the transformer ride

in Universal Studios Singapore.

Husband's food supply was great!

We managed to skip lunch

and grabbed fast food for dinner..

Oh, my sister didnt prepare any snacks for DL

she assumed we brought everything..

Okay, she need to go nourish her brain when she returns to Singapore!

We caught the grand parade

and i was so surprised that Frozen is already in the parade!

DL is really good at updating their stuff..

We decided not to catch the fireworks
in case of over crowded train and tired kids
and end up shopping for toys and head home..
My sister was sweet to offer us a nice bowl!
which husband loves dearly
and using it very often...haha

The kids had an early night
while adults had Nissan cup noodles for supper!
I really miss the taste of Nissan,
why paris no have??

As my sister's airtickets were in the lost bag,
and she lost her booking email,
we tried to find ways to reprint them.
And in Europe at 11pm,
is almost impossible to get normal customer service
Thankfully, her friends managed to help her get it the next day.

PS I cant help but post this photo of PT
I seriously thinks that he should start grow his hair..
Haha

Lims in Europe - Paris (Day 2)

Initially we planned to start the day really early
to visit the chateau de versailles in the morning
lunch at my in-laws home
and take touristy photos at the Louvre etcs
However, in the end we decide to sleep in, haha

I guess my sister and i were really nervous about the lunch
that the kids were monkey around
spit if they dislike the food
or break some antique furniture...
Added that, I was telling my sister stories 
of how disciplined french kids are at meals

My mother in law was really nice
to prepare the typical french lunch course
which means a possible long lunch..
she even offered to prepare drawing papers and materials
to let the kids draw in the kitchen if they are bored
Husband and I just kept gently reminded her 
That Singaporean kids may behave differently
out of their expectations..hmm

Anyway, we were lucky to board the fast train to versailles
so that we need not listen to Isaac's 
'Are we there yet?' Haha
And everything went well for lunch
Kids had kiddy snacks and food,
plenty of space to move,
In laws trying to speak in English
and delicious home made french food!

I guess sister and family is not used to eating the lunch course
that i constantly need to remind them to save their stomach 
or to just take a little
Towards the end of the lunch, 
the kids did took the offer to draw
and shauna was really sweet to draw for my in laws..

After the heavy lunch
we were glad for the slow stroll to visit the chateau
that was when we realised that its Autumn!
Autumn based on date (21 Sept) rather that the temperature
It has been erratic weather that we cant guess whether is summer or autumn

Unfortunately the chateau was really crowded
because it was the day where admission was free
for all the attractions in Versailles
so we took the usual touristy photos 
and head back to paris
with the kids and adults were having food coma

Since it was still early
we decided to visit the lourve as planned
We were not so adventurous to visit the musesum
but took touristy photos again!
On the way there we bypass the bridge with many love locks
and shauna was facinated with them..

Thereafter we went tp the japanese street

and had ramen for dinner

although i think it tasted more like chinese noodles soup than ramen

we were happy to have asian hot soupy food

and the night ended early to save energy for disneyland!

PS Im really happy that our families can finally meet up

like what aven loves to say:

"Lets just hope there wont be a day where they quarrel at the market

over a spring onion, because they dont know they are in-laws"

Okay, sounds funnier in chinese..