being home
In January, I made a slapdash decision to go home for Chinese New Year, for a scant 6 days.
It was, as always, heartwarming to be home, especially at such an important time of year. It’s amazing how much you take for granted the feeling of being surrounded by your clan, partaking in simple rituals and traditions that unfold the same way year after year, and how easy it is to slip back into it even after you’ve been away for so long.
handing out chopsticks for lor hei
What I love about being home is that in a short period of time, I get a crash course in my zany, multi-cultural, super extended super close family all over again. Fully immersed in Pakir-Singh-Wee-Tan-Sim-Lee culture is just fantastic, a little nutty, and very yummy.
tossing the lor hei
And then there’s the giggles, and cackles, the exuberant sharing of stories, the catchups, the goss, the loud shouts that characterizes my family, and ALL with your mouth full of amazing food. All. The. Time.
the best punjabi food
Home again in just 5 short weeks. CANNOT. WAIT.
Read Moresimple home improvements
Sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference. S and I have lived in this house for a year now, and yet it still feels like it’s not quite become enough of a complete home yet.
An example – our tea/coffee station has been a veritable mess of kettle cords, toaster parking area, random things strewn around, for AGES. And now, with a simple purchase, it has become a joy to behold and made this part of the kitchen SO MUCH more usable.
see?
Whilst my mum was in town last week, she also bought S a new iron – see, the iron we had was a $30 one I bought when I first moved to Australia 11 years ago. Uh huh. Apparently, according to the ironer in the house (S!), it was the world’s crappiest iron. So my mummy decided a great gift would be one of a household appliance for him.
Cue one happy ironing man.
in his Geelong teeshirt, NO LESS.
It’s a good Phillips one, generates more steam than I knew irons were capable of, and cuts his ironing time hugely. Of course, I know all this from being a very keen observer, as I myself do not iron. My relationship with ironing is such that when S does his ironing, I look at him holding my crumpled garment with imploring eyes. AND IT WORKS. Ladies, take note!
Yup, definitely the simple home improvements and a man who irons that makes my day.
Read Morehorse love
I’ve written before about how terrified I am of horses, and yet I have now been on horseback, and enjoyed it!
A few months ago I found this horrific excuse of a ceramic animal in a thrift store.
WHAT IS IT?
It’s a unicorn. With a broken horn (see the forlorn hole in its forehead?). AND you can’t tell in this photo, but it’s not only white, it’s covered in glitter. Subtle glitter. You know, to make it extra classy.
Something about it thrilled me though (maybe its bubblegum pink and sparkly mane and tale?) and I bought it for the whole princely sum of $8.
I took it home, and placed it on a brick in the back garden, for…
plastic spray paint primer
Now I KNOW this is the wrong kind of primer, BUT you have to hear me out. The entire THING was covered in a plasticky like substance (I think to make it shimmer a bit more) and I didn’t feel like sanding it down. So, plastic primer it was.
I gave it a nice even coat and let it dry overnight, and voila, the finish became roughed up like it had been sanded. YAY!
Then out came the bling. Why the bling? Well I’ve had a recent obsession with brass/gold things. From jewellery, to belts, to homewares, and even lamps. YES, entire gold lamps. Behold just one of the items of magnificence I made my long suffering man cart home from Egypt.
oh yeah baby!
Umm, yeah. S doesn’t entirely approve of my obsession with gold animals, but I’M ON A ROLL HERE and beware anyone who steps into the path of the ROLL.
ANYWAYS.
To cut a long story short, I spray painted the damn unicorn horse morph GOLD.
And here it is. Ain’t she purdy?
And, she looks magnificent on our dining room sideboard, with our newly framed Egyptian papyrus art!
(Excuse the crappy reflection of the light in the glass. I err, didn’t plan on that.)
So, I’m officially addicted to spray painting, and I may or may not have run around the house looking for more things I could spray paint gold (cue diabolical laughter) but yes, how good is that $8 investment in my home decor?!
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the magic carpet
When we were in Singapore, S and I bought a couple of carpets – much cheaper than in Australia, and far superior silk, finely made with rich colours, and OH so luxurious!
We weren’t sure if we got it entirely right until we carted them home, and to our relief, it added dramatic flair to my favourite section of the home (see happiness inducement number 3 in this previous post) – the bar in the dining room.
We still need more decor type things to tie in the colours properly, but for now we’re just proud that we guesstimated the size and style so well! Plus, it feels incredibly soft underfoot. Some days, I just want to lie on it. (And those of you that visit… from now onwards we have become a shoes-off house!)
Read Moresingapore, days 1 & 2
Hello peoples from the land of my home! Yes, I’m in sunny Singapore!
The trip started memorably, but not quite in the way I expected. Mum had kindly upgraded me to Business Class so that I’d be more comfortable with my back injury on the trip – needless to say, this lil chicky thought that the trip would be full of classiness and style. WELL, Sharon does NOT disappoint my friends, because classiness and style do not seemingly, as I have discovered, go hand in hand with the unpredictable back pain. And rather than try to tell the story to you, I thought it would be more fun to make it like a picture tale, you know, what with each on being a thousand words and all. So, we start with the ultimate classiness:
lying down to relieve back pain, on the floor of the business class lounge, Singapore Airlines
further pain management with a glass of bollinger once boarded
last resort pain management - looking at pretty magazine pictures
None of it worked, even the shame of laying down of the floor of the lounge couldn’t quite chase Mr Pain away. S made a salient point that I was probably the only person in the world who had ever spent a flight crying from being not-comfortable-enough in Business Class. Huff.
The trip has otherwise commenced gorgeously, with all the happiness associated with seeing friends and loved ones, the cocoon like atmosphere of being ensconced in family, the relied of no longer having to be strong because you’re home. Having such a serious injury has been so draining, so debilitating, and so utterly depressing, and being home has been the perfect antidote.
Plus, the ultimate bonus – having a gorgeous boyfriend who knows that 3 months of being in bed, in pain, in an awful state = time for a long overdue DATE. I hadn’t really, up to now, been able to withstand a whole night out without it ending in tears, but I thought I was ready. And date night it was – it started with the popping of some painkillers and me jumping into a taxi to meet my precious man.
got to robertson quay where i spotted a handsome man...
so i plonked myself down with him! the night begins!
we sat down at Wine Connection for a bottle of pre-dinner champers
Oh, what? Did I say a BOTTLE of pre-dinner champers? For explanation, please see pain management photo up above, back in the flying section.
We had reservations at a gorgeous restaurant recommended by Chiewmei of Hungry Go Where. The restaurant was called Sage.
A lovely little fine dining restaurant on Mohamed Sultan Rd, we enjoyed dinner immensely. Actually, I don’t think immensely is the word for it when you have spent the entire time making little noises of ecstasy with each mouthful, when you squeal with delight as each course gets placed before you, when you feel like the explosions of tastes in your mouth are akin to watching the fireworks that go off, flower out, then the petals explode themselves, creating an orgy of sparkly goodness.
my favourite - the escargot/prawn risotto topped with a parmesan encrusted poached egg. Heaven.
happy, full bellied.
Of course, it didn’t hurt that we spent the entire dinner date gazing into each others eyes and catching up on 3 months of date nights via sweet nothings, wonderful conversation and plenty of across the table hand-holding!
Post dinner, we headed to Haagen Daaz and bought a pint of Cookies and Cream ice cream which we may or may not have eaten ALL OF AT ONCE, then enjoyed a romantic hand-held walk back to the luxurious Shangri-La hotel, where lucky me got to spend the night with S!!
shangri-la hotel, singapore
All in all, the trip has started exceedingly well, with me feeling extremely loved by a man I adore, plus by the family whom I hold so dearly to me. More updates very soon folks… Wish me plenty of rest, lots of fun and ultimately, a trip that heals my aching soul from not being able to dance.
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