An Indian adventure

Day 9 – Hampi, India

Oh my goodness, I love Hampi in the off-season. It is cool, beautiful and so so magical! This morning we ate breakfast looking out on the river, while the temple elephant was having her morning bath. I am not quite ready to leave, however tonight we go on our sleeper train to Mysore. Blockie is particularly excited about the prospect of sleeping on the train. Especially after our train ride from Magato to Hospet, which went surprisingly well! We played ‘I spy’, wannabe duplo, watched a film, looked out the window, read Harry Book, read Where’s Wally, made a necklace with cheerios and dental floss and watched some more iPad. I fucking love the iPad! I am sorry, but it is a life saver, when you want to talk to your spouse in peace!

In Hampi, the iPad has been superfluous. There are dogs, chicken, cows and cats everywhere to look at. Beautiful temples, stones to jump on, no cars (just rickshaws and motorcycles), so more freedom for the kids to walk around without our tight grip!

On another note, I must admit though, I might have packed a little bit too minimalistic for myself and I am slightly reluctant to embrace all the Indian outfits that you see 20 something backpackers wear (including myself 11 years ago). I haven’t even brought a jumper and it is actually needed here in the evening. But the boys are good and Husband has got his suit and work shoes, so we’re good!? Will have to go out and get a shawl today as well as more jewellery, I definitely need more jewellery!!!?

 

(Ps still not over the diarrhoea!)

I have gone done it again!

I am so sorry! This keeping up with the blog, is not something I do very well! Life has just been super busy – I have now entered “thesis-country” and am sitting at school every day, researching, reading and writing. It’s good, but hardcore, which means I have been slack with updates and writing. My mum is here. Interesting. She has been here a month and a half already, looking after the boys while I work. As interesting as it is for me to live with my mum all of a sudden, it is so good for the boys to get to know my mum and I know it will be hard when she leaves. I was quite comprehensive at first. It is strange living with your mum after x amount of years not living with her. But it is actually going really well. Like surprisingly well. I don’t know what I expected (the worse), but because I am not home during the day and she needs peace and quiet in the evening, it probably makes it easier. Husband is also handling it well, he has however decided, that we are definitely not getting a live-in maid when my mum leaves. So that is always something. I didn’t want one, he did. Now he doesn’t.

This weekend the boys and I chilled and played all Saturday. It was needed and lovely. We had such a good day playing shop, building towers in lego and making pizza. Saturday night, Husband and I went out. It was a colleague of his’ birthday and we went out for dinner and then some drinks (I went totally old school and had a Pina Colada!). Really nice night and so rare we go out together! Also had the opportunity to feel youngish as I held my friend’s hair while she puked in the gutter. Loved it.

I am obsessed with food here, though! The cuisine is amazing! Whatever you heart desires and better, you can find in KL. We went to an Indian woman’s house. She cooked us delicious vegetarian Indian food in the surroundings of her own home (see pictures on Instagram). The website is called ‘Plate Culture’ and is amateur chefs cooking for people in their own house. Such a great concept. My next adventure will be Persian, I think.

 

Mmmmmmmm…… Noodle soup!

I like to think of myself as a reasonably good cook. I like cooking and most of the times, the result of my skills are very well received by family and friends…. That is, until tonight. Now you’d think that a simple noodle soup is hard to fail at. Well. I can tell you, it is not. Because tonight I failed. Miserably. I made the worse noodle soup ever. I don’t know how I managed to do it, but not even the all-eating Beano wanted to touch it, so we had double up on smoothies (with veggies) and weetabix for dinner. 

So here is how NOT to make noodle soup:

1. Don’t put the noodles in first. It is stupid and they overcook, which leaves the soup glueyish and gloopy instead.
2. Don’t chop random veggies to add just as randomly as they are chopped.
3. Don’t undercook the carrots.
4. Don’t add random flavour to add flavour. 
5. Don’t serve it to your family, because your youngest will throw it on the floor and your oldest will call it yucky. Your husband will eat it with a weird look on his face as if he is desperately trying to cover up his disgust with an awkward smile and he is doing it for his country.

Husband has just come up to me and said following: “Don’t feel sad or deflated……. But I am ordering a delivery!”

Coming to an end….

I have been absolutely shit at writing and updating lately. New country et all.. So I thought I’ll do a sum up of 2015 – because really, it has been utterly nuts! 

In January Husband got a job as a History teacher in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and then got “upgraded” to Head of History and MUN. This meant that, once again, I had to move country, not with one baby, but a baby AND a three year old. But first I had to pack a whole house of mess down, oh and finish my exams for my masters, oh and give birth. 

 On the 5th of February, I finished my last exams and officially went on maternity, on the 8th I celebrated the Block’s third birthday with a big birthday party. On the 16th Beano was born, two days early and early in the morning. Beautiful birth, if there is such thing. But after the Block’s birth (which left me looking like I had been fingered by Freddy Krüger), a two hour labour from start to finish is a bloody beautiful birth. I woke up Monday morning with a twang and twinge. Thought about taking a shower, but thought not to, as I was going to give birth in water, it would be silly. Went down and started to listen to my “contraction playlist” oh, yes, I had one of those, whilst rocking on my ball. Then the twings and twangs started biting a little bit more, so I chose to wake up the Husband. He made me a cup of tea and called our friend to look after Block. Out in the car, back in the house with a jacket for Block, back into the car, chase a cat out, start driving and at 7am , we were at the midwife led  birthing centre. It was seriously hurting now, but I felt in control, up the stairs, surprised midwife starts to run pool, water breaks in loo. Not going in pool, up on all four on the bed and 7.28 Beano was born. Beautiful. 

  
 

So that’s just January and February. Months passing, getting used to having a baby in the family. Beano is super chilled and lovely, feeds well, sleeps well and slowly the house is looking more and more empty, meanwhile Husband is trying to sort out getting buy-to-let and all that boring stuff, however boring stuff can be pretty stressful stuff. 

   

In May we all go to Denmark to say goodbye to my family for an unforeseeable time.  

 

July and we have finally sorted almost everything out. Saying goodbye to lovely Frome and great friends proving to be a little hard.

…. And now it is my 30th birthday. Wow. How did that happen? Pool party it is. Seemed to the only good weather day. Lucky. Farewell party as well!! 
  
Then Tuscany with Husbands family, delicious.

 

  
August the 5th – we are officially moving. Car fully packed to go to the airport. Three big suitcases and four pieces of hand luggage, a buggy, two kids and us. And then I get a phone call about my dad having been in a terrible motorcycle accident. That day. Right there. Foot out of the door to move myself and my whole family to Malaysia.  He was alive, but his left leg totally crushed and he lost ALOT of blood.  He was going in to surgery. To go or not to go?  At the airport I got a call, the surgery went well, but all of his left leg had been amputated. He tells me to go. Not the ideal way to start a new adventure. 

Dubai – 24 hours, speaking to dad – he is in good spirit.

Kuala Lumpur – and so the adventure begins. 

First month is spent finding a place to live and getting used to the heat. Eating awesome food and seeing temples. Both kids are doing well. KL is proving to be a very interesting place to be. We find a fantastic apartment, with minimalistic interior and awaits our stuff. Block starts school and the school bus picks him up every day. He seems like such a big boy. Beano is clapping and sitting and is still very happy, sleeping not so well anymore.. Teeth are coming. 

   

Blockie is swimming!

   

Then came the haze. Not something we were anticipating. A lot of time is spent indoors and suddenly it becomes okay to ride your scooter around the house. Turtle lairs are built. Beano is crawling. Unorthodox method. By now I am getting serious cabin fever. KL has lost a little bit of its charm. Beano keeps getting ill, has to go on a nepuliser. Half term. We go to Cambodia for 6 days and see Angkor Wat and have an amazing time. Everything is beautiful there, the people, the place, the blue sky, and the temples. Magical. That is why we moved. To get experiences like that! We fly back and enter KL and a continuing haze. I feel deflated. Husband and I talk about it. If  Beano gets ill again, the boys and I will go to Denmark. By this time the we are told that haze might last till February. Beano gets ill again. 

14 hour flight to Heathrow. 3 hours wait . 2 hours to Copenhagen. Denmark. On my own for a month with two boys. Beano does not sleep well anymore. He has got four teeth and two more on the way. He is suffering. How ever, I am in Denmark and I am hanging out with with all of my severly missed  friends and I love it. Haze disappeared a day after we left. Sod’s law. Husband is missing us. After a month in DK with friends and family, back to Southeast Asia it is and despite a small fright, thinking that flight was cancelled, it is  changed with a 6 hours wait in Heatrow. At first, a bit of a bugger, but then Husband’s mum, dad and sister + beautiful daughter came to see us and all is well!

Back in KL. Sky is blue and beautiful. Beano is cruising and walking with a walker. It is December. Christmas is coming. I stocked up with Danish Christmas treats in DK. Trip to Thailand discussed. Blockie is saying no, he has had enough of the travelling, fair enough. We are enjoying KL. Spending time with some seriously lovely people here. We go to Batu Caves, cookery courses for the Block, The Botanical Gardens. A silly Nisse came from Denmark and turned the house upside down. Husband is on Christmas holiday. 

 

The ugliest Christmas tree in Asia

  

Nissen has been & done naughty things

 

And here we are. After Christmas. Not yet in 2016.  Parents-in-laws been and gone – to Blockie’s great enjoyment. We’ve had a lovely Christmas. Danish and English. Eating turkey, ris ala Mande, feeding the homeless, going to Out of Africa for steaks and met Asian Father Christmas.

New years eve was held in the name of the kids and mexicansk food is consumed. 10 kids and 9 adults – Blockie had a blast, of course! Stayed up to watch fireworks.

But today, the 1st of January 2016, it’s just been us. Family day. Eating left overs.  Watching James Bond, mummy and daddy that is, while the Blocks were napping. They needed rest. We needed rest. What a year it has been. Bring on 2016 – finishing a Masters (by writing a dissertation), turning one and four, having great Fromies visiting in February, getting a job (for me) and hopefully lots of, lots of travelling for us. 

Merry Christmas from an unexpected housewife in Malasia and happy New Year. 

       
   

 

Hip to be square

I have just made a rhubarb and Apple crumple, prepared dinner, about to empty the dish washer and hung up the laundry. I need to tidy up my clothes (getting stuff ready for a clothes-swap) and do a quick tidy of the bathroom and do the plank + stomach exercises. The baby is fast asleep in the garden and I am wearing a dress. Did anyone say 1950s housewife? Yes, if wasn’t for the fact that there’s a little too much crumble on my crumble, I can’t get the coffee stains of a dress and I probably won’t get around to tidy the bathroom before the oldest is home. I am, after all, a unexpected housewife. 

(Ps. Listening to Jon Bon Jovi and Blaze of Glory! Awesome song!) 

  

About awards and being one lovely blog!

Thank you very much to the bespectacled mother for nominating me for this! As I don’t really have that many readers (partly to do with the fact I am not a great updater) it surprises me to get nominated! However I bow down in humility!

Now the rules go like this:

•Thank the person who nominated you for the award.
•Add the One Lovely Blog Award logo to your post and/or blog.
•Share 7 facts/or things about yourself.
•Nominate 7 bloggers you admire.

Soooo…. Logo – done! “Thank you’s” – done!

7 facts about me! Well…. Let’s see!

1. I get really upset if I feel people, friends and family gets treated unfairly or unjustified – it will make me see red! Likewise if I feel I have been treated unjustified. Youtube videos can, for me, be a slippery slope for “angriness”

2. I LOVE music. Like I really, really love music and as much as I can love some music, I really hate some music. I would go to the extend of classing myself as a music snob, but with a broad taste. I particularly love female singers and slightly melancholic music (can you say suffering teenager?)

3. I am a realistic feminist. I believe in the choice of women. Being a forceful carrier woman to being a stay-at-home-mum. No man nor woman should judge the choices a woman makes. It is her own choice. I believe this to reflect everyone. Men as well. The choice is up to the individual.

4. I have the attention span of a three year old. Always have had. It is not something I am particularly proud of. If it bores me, it is hard to keep my attention, which can be really hard and I am constantly challenged when trying to be an academic. Safe to say, not quite ready to do a Ph.d yet…

5. I am not as ambitious as some people. I have a ton of ideas, but I am not good at getting them done. Shame, really. Not being super ambitious probably has got something to do with the fact, that I can be a little lazy. I am very good at getting things done, if I have good people around me. On my own, I can be rubbish.

6. I am very positive. I always think that things will work out for the best. That whatever happens, it will be okay. I tend not to worry too much.

7. I wish I had a smaller nose. I wouldn’t get a nose job, I would look silly and not like me if I changed it. But I don’t love my nose. I accept it. It is a part of me. A big part unfortunately 😉 Husband always refers to Memory Hotel by The Rolling Stones where Hannah has got hazel eyes and her nose is slightly curved… He changes Hannah to my name… If you hadn’t guessed it…

Nominations:

A lot of the blogs I follow is on Instagram and being a very visual person, it has got something with the beautiful photos they post that draws my attention to them.

First one is a Danish blog and it’s quite popular in Denmark, they write in Danish – it is one of the blogs I read the most and enjoy reading: http://taburetten.com – two mothers writing honestly about their children, good advice and clothes.

Second one is Danish as well – she does write in English at times – http://www.thevintagehausfrau.dk – she has two children and is super creative and very innovative. Basically when I read her blog, I read about all the things I can’t or will ever do myself – so it’s nice to see someone else doing it. She combines the three C’s: cupcakes and creativity and children!

Third is https://cookingwithoutlimits.wordpress.com – I LOVE food blogs and combined with great ingredients and beautiful photos and you have my attention!

Fourth one is another Danish one and very popular – http://nutidensmor.dk – writes about current parenting related news in quite a funny way and phrase herself in ways I don’t have the capacity to do in English. Furthermore she is really good at keep updating her blog, because there’s always something silly going on in the news about parents.

Fifth, but not least is http://fyrstenogfruen.blogspot.co.uk/ – I REALLY love this and yes, I know it is another Danish blog. But I really have a weakness for this one! She is so real, funny and unfiltered. She takes pictures of her boobs, her mess and her very sweet daughter who arrived in a rather unconventional way to some people, but just the right way to me!

Truth be told – I don’t read that many blogs anymore. After Instagram has arrived in my life, I have become addicted to the beautiful pictures (see fact 4 – it will explain it..)

The truth is out there

I just posted a photo on Instagram. I could have tagged it #sundayroast #familytime #sonice etc. but really, let’s face it. We all put this image of idyllic bliss up, but it’s not always great. Sometimes the picture does not depict the true story. As lovely as the food might seem, if the company is doing your head in, it’s not always great. I ended up sitting on my own dipping a potato directly into the gravy, while the Block ran around overtired playing with Woody and a Husband had gone back up to work. #sundayroast #notsomuchfamilytime #dontletappearancesfoolyou

Potato – potarto!

Ever since the Block was a Blockling and started he has refused to eat potatoes. I just do not know why – I have now in his 2 years of eating, prepared them in a 101 ways! Not even chips/fries(for the Americans) goes down.. He just won’t eat them. I serve them now and again and he will try and then say: nooo….
Maybe it’s genetic? Not me, I LOVE potatoes in any form! But my cousin doesn’t – maybe he has got his dislike from him? I remember thinking, that it was very weird not to like potatoes – what’s not to like? Yet, here I am, with a child who most certainly is not fond of those spuds!

Wedding of the year and not having children at weddings

Last weekend Husband and I went to an old friend’s wedding. It was in Suffolk and it was magnificent. Nothing was spared.
The only thing you can never count on though, when you choose to have a wedding in England, is the weather. Through out the week it had said rain, rain, rain and knowing that the couple was going to have a formal blessing outside – I was begging the clouds to stay away!
The day started with beautiful sunshine and canapés and champagne in the garden and then a fantastic ceremony, during which I, of course, cried my eyes out and that was my make-up ruined for the rest of the evening. We went inside and the groom sang a song for his new husband (Elton’s your song!) and I cried some more! Suddenly during dinner, the rain came – we sat inside looking out on the thunder and lightning and it just worked! It was as if it had waited till we’d all gone inside, so we could admire it from a distance. As soon as we went out again to see a live light show (yes… They also had one of those with a live electronic band) it had stopped raining again! Impressive! Such a fantastic night!

I had to admit to one of the grooms, that just as I thought their gay wedding couldn’t get any gayer – their faces appear in a light show on a house 😉

Everything was so great and one of my favourite touches was the day after, where they had invited close friends and family back for burgers and Bloody Mary’s! What a treat!

I forgot to get a photo of that, but here’s one of the food and dessert!

Oh, and one of the unbelievably talented and quite beautiful singer who sang blues and Motown songs during dinner!

I always get relieved when the invitation says not children (unless you have a newborn), as it takes the choice away from us parents and allows us to have a great evening, where we can have actual conversations. I am sure not everyone agrees, but for me it’s a treat! The Block wouldn’t have enjoyed it anyway, I wouldn’t have spoken to anyone and would have had to leave early. Besides the Block LOVES his grandparents! He was not sad to see,us go and that makes me feel even better. Because I know I am not leaving a heartbroken child, but a happy boy behind.

Denmark for this time

I am currently on my way back from Denmark, just made the food and work plan for the following week – exciting. And while I am sitting here in the plane, contemplating my weekend on my own in Denmark, listening to Aimee Mann and enjoying the quiet, I must admit, that I handled it a lot better than I thought I would. I didn’t miss the Block as much as I thought I would, knowing he was in good hands and all. I’ve caught up with two friends, which has been lovely, but I have also walked 3 km home to my dad in bare feet because my shoes were hurting and my dad had forgotten to pick me up. I have watched the Wolf of Wall Street with Spanish subtitles and played with a Rottweiler – who sensed my slight fear of it, eaten real man-food aka over cooked potatoes with Whiskey sauce (from a bottle) accompanied with soy fried chicken and iceberg salat and had two shots of baileys. My dad has woken me up every morning at 7.30 on purpose (and actually woken me up at 6.00 by playing fetch with the dog outside my window). I have chased my grandmother’s jewellery to a charity shop where they’d been given by a mistake and asked for some of them back, though not having the strength/conscience to ask for all of it. 
I am back now, and it it is clear that the Block has been spoilt rotten this weekend by auntie and grandmother (daddy has probably been spoilt too…) a sand pit, a micro scooter and the whole box set of Postman Pat + he is testing me in everything! “You left me, mama and now you have to pay!”