Great power comes great responsibility

Merry christmas everyone!!
As usual, we spent our christmas in versailles with my in-laws.
So on 24th, husband and i lugged our luggages and gifts to their home
Since we had time before dinner, we went to the underground storeroom
and managed to find some old plates and bowls to bring home.
This year, 1 of the sisters will be spending christmas eve with boyfriend's family
but we still continue to have our long christmas eve feast
and even had time to play taboo in the middle of the dinner
Then we waited to midnight to wish each other and ended the day.

On 25th, i started to feel that husband's room is so cluttered
well, it had unofficially became the storeroom of the house,
with things on the floor, cabinent top, piling up the walls etcs,
my ocd kicked in and i started to try to pack and clear the things.
Since its mostly my in-laws stuff, 
i cant really throw them away (eg 6 empty shoesboxes) or hide them too well that they cant find,
I can only attack husband's old stuff.
and managed to have moe space on the floor and cabinent top.

Sister and boyfriend came and we had a simple lunch
then it was the "traditional" walk in the gardens of versailles
which i managed to "avoid" for the past 2 years due to various reasons
but this year, husband managed to drag me along
and we did the needed 3hrs walk to burn off the fats
We then start our dinner with gifts opening
and again a long dinner....

The kitchen's 2 sinks started to be clogged towards the end of dinner
and husband was helping father-in-law to fix it
Seeing that husband was involved,
I prep myself to be ready to help at any instant
because its the husband, haha
Husband then accidently unscrew something and the kitchen floor begin to flood
While everyone was still in shock, i immediately started to dry the floor
Ended up, i became the in-charge of cleaning giving orders to husband and sister's boyf 
we managed to dry the floor even though i think the floor needs to be mopped
but i guess its late, so everyone didnt really want to do it
So, we ended the day.

Normally, we would have stayed in versailles till we travel to grandparents's home for christmas lunch
which means staying for about 4 days
This year, considering that both sisters will not be staying for 26th night
although they all stay in versailles and is easy for them 
And all the gifts, luggages, plates etcs to carry back
I "proposed" the husnband to return home on 26th evening
and to return on 27th evening for dinner and movie
Again, husband and father-in-law fix the sink,
more dirty, smelly and gross water flooded the floor
This time, we dried it up and mopped it properly
well, at least the sinks are fixed!
After lunch and spending some time with the sisters,
we took the trains and went home
It was definitely good to be home,
I managed to wash the dirty clothes, unload and pack the stuff
and the night at home fresehen me up for the upcoming french days.

On 27th, we ended up being late for dinner
but still managed to finished dinner and rush off to watch star wars with the siblings
Father in law has to pass the keys to us since we will be home after midnight
he insisted to passing the keys to me instead of husband!
Haha, i teased the husband so much that now my father in law trusts me more than him
and how the key is a symbol of power, opps
great power comes great responsibility ya?

Anyway about starwars,
i must admit im a fake fan,
i love all the merchandises but never really adore the films,
well, i only watched ep 1, 2, 3 and now 7
but i think its really better than i expected and i guess i can really become a fan....

Coming to the end of 2015..

I cant believe that its already the end of december!
And today is the last day of work for me for 2015...
I guess the second half of 2015 has been settling in our new home
and hoping for baby dust to arrive... no good news yet..
Still awaiting for the super slow appointment with gynae in feb 2016 (1day before our sg flight)

We just returned from Bordeaux to visit the grandparents-in-law.
Compared to 2014 trip, I think we nua much more 
Basically, it was eat, sleep, do nothing and walk a little around bordeaux.
Oh and shopping for some christmas presents...
I think at least it was a good rest for us.

2 months ago, I was supposed to start my free french couurse from the govt in paris
But because of my new address, i was to contact the school in my home district
After husband called, the school insisted that we cant contact them directly
that they need to receive the info from the govt of the change.
Considering the need to renew my visa in Jan 2016 and for the french course,
we decided to go and change my address on my visa card.
In paris, we could take an appointment online,
but here, we need to go physically for appointment etcs

On arrival, we realised that we could actually do the renewal and change of address at the same time.
However, if we change the address first, 
they will send us a mail for the documents required and appointment for renewal in mid december
Since we were there and im worried that by the time of renewal, 
I am still considered to be living in paris and cant renewal etcs
French administrations as usual,
so we decided to change my visa card just to change the address.

After 2 months of wait, I finally received my new visa card with the new address
Sadly, till today, we still have not received the mail about renewal.
I guess we will need to go there again in Jan without appointment
to request for an appointment for visa renewal
and hope all will be done before we fly off to Singapore.
arrrgggghhhh

To end on a positive note,
we are hosting the new year eve party
and my friend is coming paris for new year!

When loneliness strikes...

I always thought I can handle loneliness and isolation quite well
Life in france had taught me that sometimes in sg, i chose to be lonely and isolated
and times when i want to be surrounded,
there is always plentiful of friends, family, colleagues and even work to surround me.
On and off i have feel lonely.
The fact that i have no one to go to if i decide to runaway from home
or simply not having someone to have a drink with on a friday evening.
But often, these feelings of loneliness passed quickly.
And i seek comfort in whatsapping people in sg.

I guess i am to blame for not building up my social circle here.
I have been here for close to 2 years.
And I still only have a friend, who i knew through french class that i keep in contact with.
The rest will be husband's friends or family members
Maybe is the age or personality or expectations or our lifestyles,
i often wish that i can know people at a snap of my finger,
which never happened.
And my job, its not really a job to expand social circle,
unless you consider the 3 girls im babysitting as my friends.

Tonight at the usual babysitting,
my boss called me and she cant hear me
so she assumed her phone has a p^roblem and asked for my help to call the piano teacher
when i called the piano teacher, she cant hear me too
then i realised my phone is the one having the problem.
I called husband to verify whether my phone has a problem
and his phone was engaged / no reception that i cant get him
thats when the loneliness strikes me deeply
i realised i have no one else to call
just to check whether my phone is working

At the end, i called my friend (the only friend i have)
and she helped to confirmed that my phone is not working
although im glad had her to call
the scary loneliness that i had been denying of finally became a fact
I have no one to call 

On the way home,
i was so overwhelmed with emotions that i decided to whatsapp my sis and bff
then i remember i have no wifi so they will only received it when im home
and with the time difference, it will probably be hours later before they see it.
I guess i now have a very valid reason to add wifi to my mobile plan.

The good news is husband is suppose to buy me a phone for christmas,
but i guess i will get it tomorrow instead.
however, i guess france wins again

France 1 - Linn 0

Becoming 32..

So on the actual birthday,
We stayed home and husband prepared my fave meal..
Steamboat!
Which ended up to be next 3 meals of soup,
Yummy!

Husband went to buy me flowers and cakes too..
A birthday card from my in-laws,
And we just spent the day at home..
Received a surprise birthday song 
from husband's friends via whatsapp,
While husband wondered why they didnt asked us for that gathering, haha

Yesterrday we went for sis in law's house warming

Received a facial groupon from in-laws

And a hamper of goodies and food from the others.

After that, we went for a gathering at friend's place

And a surprise celebration for me and another friend!

Thank you for all the wishes.

From singapore and france...

I hope 1 year older = 1 year wiser?

32 and counting...

The eve before I became 32..

I was excited for my birthday weekend 
as husband planned for a surprise daytrip for my birthday eve!
Sadly, the terrible attacks on 13th november,
i felt like it seemed wrong to celebrate my birthday.
Since we will be going out at 0630, i made sure to text the key people in SG,
just in case people thought im hurt during the attacks.

Im glad that i did it especially when i have no internet on phone and was out the whole saturday.
When we arrived home, i had like 60 texts from sg asking whether im fine.
Thankfully, the key people update others that im fine
I was really surprised that the Singapore embassy called my sister to check my safety
I felt so loved by Singapore, hehe
Okay back to the surprise trip...

Husband decided to bring me to Fururoscope!
Which is located about 2 hours train from Paris..
Initially, i wanted to go to Asterix park, but is closed for winter.
I had the idea to go Futuroscope in the beginning of the year (I think)
but was shocked at the price of the train to go
Im surprised that husband remembered that i wanted to go
and it was great that the daytrip tickets train were much cheaper than normal

I will say that the park feels like a big science centre but with rides
Most of the attractions are educational and only in french.
Most of the rides are 3D/4D 
I think the newest addition is the Raving Rabbids

Lucky husband asked me to dress warm,

it was quite cold that day and most queues were outdoor.

We didnt expect the Friday's attacks and the park was quite empty.

Husband even bought the premium pass for us to skip queues on some rides,

which we didnt really need it except for 2nd round or before headding home.

1 of the employees was even shocked when we shown him the pass, haha

Apart from the rides, 
there were Imax movies about sea, space etcs
I think it will be good for kids above 8 years old to enjoy the rides and stuff..

In particular,
I think the outdoor area for kids was really good
It had a few rides that reminded me of rides in legoland
and playground for the kids to run around
okay, also big kids like us..

Im glad we went for a day trip instead of 2 days,
there are not much attractions and we were lucky that it was quite empty,
each ride can be like 20mins, i cant imagine the queues in spring and summer!
just that the park is big that sometimes it can take 10 mins to walk to another attraction.
Definitely not a place for tourists, with 2 hours of train, cost of train tickets and everything in french,
I think I was the only few asians in the park.

I experienced dining in the night once and was happy that we paid extra to experience voyage as a blind person.
Basically, we had a blind guide who bring as to a few dark room,
with sound, smell, touch, experience effects of a forest, city and up an ice mountain.
It was a wonderful expereience to try running on grass, sitting in a boat, careful of traffic in total darkness
we definitely become grateful of our sight.

We left the park at 1930 and arrived home near to 2300
because i persuaded the husband to stop halfway
to tabao KFC for supper
We were wondering why the streets are so quiet and realised at home that there was a safety notice to stay home
Opps, we definitely did the super wrong thing to spend the whole day out at a theme park,
taking train at major train station and walking on the streets at night,
but ignorance is bliss and we are safe and well.

We were very surprised that Disneyland was closed!
And husband was saying that he didnt even checked whether futuroscope was closed
before we depart... oh well

So, i received a great gift from husband..a polaroid!
I always wanted a polariod but felt is too expensive.
I guess i can go buy the film in when im back in Feb!

For anyone interested, this is the website:
http://en.futuroscope.com/

Thank you husband for the wonderful birthday surprise trip
I know Im not the easiest person to live with or best wife
But thank you for always being here for me..
Love you! 

fattening treats

I love sunday brunch!
I look forward preparing sinful sunday brunch
So 1 weekend, i had a pancakes craving and bought pancake mix
Husband dont really love pancakes
but with the canada maple syrup from my parents-in-law, he cant resist
I think a few weeks ago i tried to make pancakes from scratch
and definitely its much easier with pancake mix

Since there was pancake mix leftover
I managed to tried to make steam cake in the same week
Basically is adding egg, yogurt, sugar, baking powder into the pancake mix and steam it
Husband is not a fan of sponge cake
but i guess warm, soft steamcake is still passable for him

I kinda miss baking
but i think its not good to restart baking as our waistline is constantly expanding
haha

Hsg scan

Another big event for my holiday week
Is to go for the hsg xray
To check whether the uterus and fallipian tubes are fine.
At first, I thought it will be a normal xray                             
Till i was prescribed painkillers and antibiotics to be start 2 days before the xray
Then i start google and realised how scary it is
Similar to a pap smear,
But to insert a tube to the cervix and pump dye into me.
It definitely doesnt sound fun

Finally the day came
After reading 100000 stories about how painful it will be
Finally the day came.
As usual, the reigistration was fine 
And quickly it was my turn
To undress all except my bra and socks
My little cover of dignity
I was quite glad that the xray person was a lady
I think i was too stress that my french level became zero
But glad i googled the procedures to know whats going to happen

After a normal xray,
The lady told me i may feel discomfort
And at any time if too painful, I can ask them to stop
The male gynae came in and explained the procedures again
I must look really stressed that both of them took turn to ask how im feeling
It did felt like a normal pap smear
Without the scary chair and more discomfort
I guess they dont warm up the opener like my gynae did
Then was the painful insertion of the tube
Again doc say if too painful, I can ask them to stop
I can feel my stress level increase

The dye process was discomfort
Suppose to feel like a normal cramp
But added with stress, its actually quite painful
I will say its 3/5.

Then i was to turn my body
Which i totally forget how to turn
And the kind lady helped me to shift my body
I think the whole process took 5mins
But felt like eternity to me
Then doc left

The lady kindly brought me my underwear
And a pad and asked me to sit at toilet bowl for a while
Its nice that she still asked how i am while im sitting inside
Then i had another xray scan and its done!

I was feeling dull cramp and wobbly legs
After awhile, the doc showed me the xray
And said all was fine.
I got a shock at payment, its 180eur!
Well, at least is a good news.
I cant imagine paying so much
And going through all this
For some bad news...

Although its survivible, I really hope i need not go through this again!