Happy 2008

I am back. Well, sort of. Jet lag has gotten me this time around, especially via the babies with their waking up at 3 in the morning ever since we're back.

I have loads to unpack, the house is in an absolute mess, and there was a leak in the bathroom upstairs (of course it had to take place when we were away) which affected the plasma TV, sofas etc in the living room downstairs. We also came home to loads of gift boxes most of them containing food : Whole leg of Parma Ham, bottles of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pasta of all sorts, champagne, wine, preserved fruits... It's crazy, where in the world am I going to find storage space for all the stuff?

It had been difficult as usual leaving Singapore and bidding farewell to my family and friends. Eldest Son wept in the plane and later again at home. I have put on a good 7 kgs in just 3 weeks and am now hard pressed to try to lose them all a.s.a.p. - before they decide to stay on for good.

The flight back had been tiring with Baby Boy patting me on the arm every 2 minutes asking me to explain this or that to him - for like 3-4 hours before he fell asleep. Then it was Baby Girl's turn. And my prediction of long queues at Immigration (in Paris) of course was very true and we ended up missing our connecting flight to Bologna. Why the hell couldn't they deploy more Immigration officers at such an important airport, you wonder. And the stamp that I got in my passport didn't have enough ink, the entry date was invisible. Aargh. After Changi Airport, everywhere else pales in comparison.

Then it was back to school for the kids and visits to the supermarket to be made. I have had a great time looking through the shelves in Cold Storage and FairPrice in Singapore recently and while the supermarkets here in Italy are bigger, they certainly lack variety and shopping for food therefore seems even more boring then it already is. Yes, I'm having Singapore-withdrawal symptoms. Boo hoo hoo.

On the bright side, I have almost forgotten how big my house in Italy is and how quiet. The 3 weeks spent in my parents' HDB flat saw us being woken up by drilling noises everyday at 8:30am sharp (they were renovating all the void decks in the neighbourshood), I could hear babies crying, different types of alarm clocks going off starting from 5:30 am, men singing in their shower...and in the flat, I was forever tripping over my brother's 2 dogs.

I have eaten lots (too much). I was roasted in Wild Wild Wet. I saw my brother getting married. I had my eyes lasiked. I finally saw what Desaru's like. I met up with old friends and new ones (i.e. blog friends Daily Affairs and East Meets West Kitchen). I watched the Coffee Prince Korean TV series. I started going through the stuff I've left behind more than 12 years ago and decided to leave them where they are for another infinite number of years.

Leaving is hard. But it is good to find the Hub (he came back 9 days before us) and have someone to nag at again. I do not seem to have lost my cooking skills, on my detox programme : rice porridge, Spaghetti all' arrabbiata and a Pot au Feu for the next 2 days.

But most important of all, Happy 2008 and to More Good Blogs, everyone!