The Bomparradi's go to Asia
martedì 6 ottobre 2020
As time passes, 05/10/2020
Two years today since we have left Singapore, two years since we have come back home.
Two years full of life, milestones and love. Singapore and all it represented is still vivid in my heart.
The desire to go back is strong and it gets stronger by the day. Till we come back dear Asia, I treasure you in my heart and in the smiles your memory paints onto my face.
I leave you with the thoughts, never published, I had last year on the very same day.
Another autumn is here. It marks exactly one year since our return from Singapore. Last year today we left.
Marco and a pregnant me. This year we are three, Maya is joy, laughter, exhaustion and a wonderful new life.
I often think of Singapore, our life at the equator, the delicious food, the crazy heat day and night, the city commute and the life lived in flip-flops. It’s been awesome. Difficult but awesome.
I’d do it again, and again. I left feeling content and grateful. One year on I’m nostalgic like crazy. I went over with the desire to travel and have the experiences of a lifetime, I came back with two lives, forever entwined with Asia, forever grateful.
venerdì 5 ottobre 2018
The last day in Singapore
And here we are, our last day in Singapore.
It came fast, invasive and unwanted. We didn’t manage to do
many things we really wanted to, the last few days flew by in a cloud of
bureaucracy, work deadlines and annoyances.
But although we didn’t see again some places we loved, at
least we managed to say goodbye to the people that made our stay in Singapore a
unique experience.
We will miss you all (I still can’t believe this is it!) and
I leave with the certainty that true friendship does not care about distance
and time zones. Relationships remain and I am grateful for having you in my
life.
We will see you soon
r.& M xxx
mercoledì 5 settembre 2018
A month before we go back home
One month exactly to our repatriation date.
I can’t describe how fast this 2018 has gone, the desire to travel and explore this part of the world is intact, so much we have not seen… there is still so much to do, experience, feel, taste and instead I’m packing my bags and thinking about these past two years with some regrets, but also gratitude.
I have been through weeks of denial and rejection of the idea we had to go (no chance for another extension). I got to the point the husband had the ticket to go and I didn’t…
If only I could rewind time and start all over again… I would do it differently. I wish I could start with my current mind set. I can now let go, I can now step back and feel less intensely about everything, I no longer have to be liked (I failed miserably at this in the office, oh well…).
A quick trip to UK and Italy in August boosted my desire to go back home. I have now come to terms with the end of our (hopefully first) Asian adventure, I am now happy to live closer to the people I care for.
It’s not a return, it’s not a defeat, it’s the beginning of a new adventure for us, definitely bigger than Asia and the only place for me to start this adventure is near the Bomparolas, the Corradis, the friends we have made over the years and over the countries in Europe.
I had time to reflect on the past 2.5 years, I had the chance to treasure the amazing memories and digest the hard bits, and God I feel blessed!
How lucky I have been to be sent here, to be living and experiencing such a different, rich and diverse culture. Who would have ever imagined that I would have the chance to see so many faces, to meet so many lives and to see so many stars in the night sky!
I’m truly grateful to life for this time and although with eyes full of tears, I can only smile to fate and say thank you!
sabato 30 dicembre 2017
Reflections of 2017 – part 4
Outside
of the holidays and foods, the approach and acceptance of realising bodily
noises in any scenario, my abiding memory is best summarised as this: no-one
says “excuse me”.
It
was Roby who sussed it some months back.
The
locals push past. It’s not that they behave as if you don't exist, like we can
often feel with certain tourists; rather, it’s just not a part of the day-to-day
vocabulary.
And
then, the moment you politely question the
situation, they apologise like they just dropped a massive shit on your
breakfast plate.
Example….blocked
by family welcoming home mother as I exit Changi airport.
Marco thinks “that’s
sweet, but I don't need that level of thoughtless shit after less than 40 hours
sleep and about 40 hours of flight-time in 7 days.”
Takes deep breath, applies standard British approach and apologises…
“sorry
excuse me, can I squeeze past?”
Cue
chorus of "Sooorrrreeeeeee" as everyone moves out of the way.
As
we head towards our new year in Singapore, for me that’s the abiding memory of
2017.
It’s
the general lack of thoughtfulness and kindness, an appreciation and recognition of others
around you. It’s not malicious, it’s just not there.
There
are posters on trains, god-awful a-6-year-old-could-have-come-up-with-a-better-rhyme phrases, trying to get the
locals to think about others, not just themselves.
There’s
a kindness movement, with Ben and Bang (I’m not making this shit up!) in
adverts on TV, trying to teach people to be nicer to strangers; https://kindness.sg/
Here are a couple of the
posters you can see on the MRT:
What aspects of anti-social travel behaviour do you think
“bag-down Benny” and “hush-hush Hannah” are trying to get across?
Here’s
the full gang outside taking a well-deserved break from another day of failing
to get their points across….
There’s
a word for this behaviour, or self-first: kiasu; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiasu
I
took exception to hearing one of our Australian contacts refer to
Singaporeans in this fashion – I still don't think it's a nice phrase to use in reference
to the locals, but the word is derived within the Hokkien culture; it’s a
Singaporean description for Singaporeans. And regretfully, it hits the spot to describe what you encounter more
often than not.
So that was 2017!
It has been brilliant and fantastic, difficult and troublesome, so relaxed I wondered if I would ever be able to get up again, and so intense that we thought we would both explode. We've had visitors, stay with us, or stay locally for work and / or pleasure. We've travelled lots, but it still feels like not enough. We've eaten things that should never be eaten, and experienced moments of such uniqueness, that we will likely never repeat, that I sometimes wonder if they actually happened.
Have
a fantastic new year to all of you, our family and friends.
We’ll be celebrating it
here in Singapore, at a party looking
over the bay, with free-flowing food and drink. Should
be a prime location for the fireworks, and loads of selfie opportunities! That assumes we haven't both gotten so rat-arsed we are asleep in the corner and miss it all.
We
both have form in this matter, so wish us luck, and lots of red bull based drinks.
See
you all in 2018 X
Reflections of 2017 – part 3
Cambodia
in August
Glorious temples, and unbearable heat! If Singapore has been bad,
never have we experienced greater humidity and more heat than walking through
Angkor Wat in Siem Reap.
It
was truly beautiful, ancient temples slowly being consumed by nature, man
seeking to hold back the tide.
The
fusion food we tried in Embassy, delicious! With geckos watching us through the
windows.
Eating
bugs? Turns out if you cook them and flavour them with French pastry and
sauces, then all they are is a mental block to swallowing and a photo
opportunity to share later.
The
Cambodian people, so kind and helpful, so many smiles, so much gratitude,
despite the poverty.
The
town always awake, or so it seemed; the brown dust and mud (that persists to
this day in the treads of my trainers), the poverty of the water village. A
truly beautiful place to visit.
Vietnam in October
The madness of Hanoi, crossing the street by not looking at the
cars and motorcycles, trusting they will flow around you, like water around a
rock…a rock that is slowly crossing a river, trying not to show any fear that
the water is going to kill it.
The night market, the dancing on the street around the lake; how everyone lives on the street, not just cooking and eating food, sat on what can only be described as pre-school sized plastic chairs and tables, but working, welding, selling, even having hair cuts.
And Halong Bay...
The serenity, beauty...silence, while kayaking into grottos and caves...as the junk sails further into the bay...a barbeque on a secluded beach....which changes the moment our allotted time is up, as we are suddenly swamped by tourism-overload.
Another country we will go back to in 2018, the middle and South need us to visit too.
And the other trips and events…work with a twist of fun, work just for work…Europe for weddings or wedding anniversaries, Norway for stop-overs, Singapore for the National Day….we’ve done so much that the level of tiredness we feel presently makes a lot more sense if considered in the context of travel. And 2018 threatens to be just as busy, even more so.
So how can I sum up this trip so far……….?
The night market, the dancing on the street around the lake; how everyone lives on the street, not just cooking and eating food, sat on what can only be described as pre-school sized plastic chairs and tables, but working, welding, selling, even having hair cuts.
The motorbike is king! Deliveries are made by bike, gas cylinders, hundreds of helium-filled balloons, chickens and all manner of animals and vegetables, are all transported by bike. The traffic makes it the most convenient form of transport. Even the Grab taxis that we use in Singapore (similar to Uber) offer motorbike pillion taxi travel in Hanoi. For the brave or desperate only!
The serenity of cycling and being paddled down the river in Tamcoc in Ninh Binha.
And Halong Bay...
The serenity, beauty...silence, while kayaking into grottos and caves...as the junk sails further into the bay...a barbeque on a secluded beach....which changes the moment our allotted time is up, as we are suddenly swamped by tourism-overload.
Another country we will go back to in 2018, the middle and South need us to visit too.
And the other trips and events…work with a twist of fun, work just for work…Europe for weddings or wedding anniversaries, Norway for stop-overs, Singapore for the National Day….we’ve done so much that the level of tiredness we feel presently makes a lot more sense if considered in the context of travel. And 2018 threatens to be just as busy, even more so.
So how can I sum up this trip so far……….?
Reflections of 2017 – part 2
Phuket
Thailand in April
The James Bond island, famous as the backdrop from The Man
With The Golden Gun, the face-off between Roger Moore's 007 with Scaramanga.
Asians
and Westerners all posing, hands clasped together with index fingers pointing,
loaded weapons ready for the photo opportunity. Seeing the 2 Asian ladies
posing, so different in style and yet both so equally mesmerising…in a
car-crash / "WTF" way!
The
posture of the Chinese tourists in the waiting room....don't worry if it’s a
public area, just relax, treat it like home. Belch,
yawn, snort the phlegm in and eat it. It’s all perfectly acceptable. Oh,
feeling a bit warm? Cool off by raising your t-shirt over your belly. That’s
better…
On
the return the air stewardess…. "boarding paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.....". I
think I was sitting by the time she ended that word (more on the local use of
English at a later blog-date).
Tourists
are weird. So interested in visiting other nations, seeing what must be seen,
getting themselves as many photos as possible, and yet often so unthinking of local cultures, and what is appropriate.
The
Chinese tourists are probably the worst we have seen overall, but not just from
our trip to Thailand. When we went to buy a new TV in Mustafa's, Chinese
tourists would loudly walk in front of everyone, no regard for people other
than themselves, literally as if no-one else exists. It
has just never happened, in any society where I have spent any time, that while
shopping, looking at shampoo, with barely 30cm between you and the shelves,
that someone comes and stands in front of you. And yet it happened to Roby. All
it needed was a Chinese tourist who had an interest in looking at the same
goods.
But
in Phuket, it was the Russian tourists who stood out as the biggest wankers; no
modesty on display, the women in bikinis, the men topless in shorts, all of
them bright red from too much sun.
Still,
the best tourist moment….(drum roll)…. goes to China and the Chinese gentleman
pretending to take a photo of the rock formation, whereas when I passed behind
him saw he was actually taking close-up photos of Russian cleavage.
Maybe
such “materials” are not readily obtained from the internet in China? Or can
only be secured at personal risk?
Just think, he might literally explode with excitement if he went to the
Jeju Island sex park.