Our first year in Singapore has passed so quickly that we
have not yet had the chance to acclimatise.
Time is flying and I am not happy about it. I am aging at
the same pace.
This past year we have travelled a lot, especially in Japan
and Korea, seen amazing places, met wonderful people, tried all sorts of exciting (and not) delicacies, re-encountered old friends, missed friends, missed the
families, established the “bestie” relationship, drunk loads of wine, champagne
(mainly travelling Singapore Airlines) and sake, eaten too much MSG and too few vegetables, got rid of socks, got a more decent
skin tone (less corpse-like and more human), found out I can actually sweat,
seen paradise on earth, changed job, experienced solitude, answered some very funny and weird questions, realised the
importance of my bimby, missed M&S and Waitrose, got gold card membership and beyond, got stressed like never
before, found a grand piano in my kitchen (not my piano, and temporarily not
my kitchen), got a new nephew, celebrated our first wedding anniversary, missed
my mini pretty much every day, got rid of my glasses, accepted looking like a
lioness most of the time, got used to living
with damp armpits, got used to being either too hot or too cold (never ok), had my
first pedicure, bought a couple of gorgeous swimming
suits, received a Burberry for my birthday, and a Prada for Christmas (from
different people in case you are thinking about the
extravagance of the expat life style), done pilates in a park in
tropical weather, walked 24 Km in Kyoto, cycled under a thunderstorm, felt
appreciated, felt like a bitch, got very annoyed, very happy, very emotional,
very emotion-less, woken up many times by thunder
(and got fucking scared when the husband was not responding to my prodding as he was sleeping deeply through one), read a unique series of books and felt
totally empty when I finished them, became addicted
to Netflix, achieved first Level in Chinese
language, put a picture on my desk, found a
dead cockroach under my desk, worked my ass off, felt absolutely mad and
incredulous, started drinking milk in coffee, started using linen sheets, applied for British residency, didn't get British residency, applied for British
residency again, started talking with an old friend after more than 10
years, wrote an unprecedented number of PCMs,
got my first ECG (almost got confused with EGR,
doh!), became used to telling taxi drivers which way to go, felt frustration like
never before, missed fireplaces, took LOADS of FaceTime calls, bought new furniture,
became a landlady, lost weight, put on weight, wore out
clothes and shoes, shopped for summer clothes (every time I go shopping), used litres of mosquito
repellent…
I could go on forever, but figured I will need to leave
something for year #2.
The adventure continues. Week break now, for an Italian wedding;
we will be back in Asia very soon.
