Yep, I’ve decided to tumblr. Just some portraits of people I run into here and there. Check it out sometime.
something else to look at
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Monthly Archives: January 2012
royann’s chinese new year gift to me
Technically, there is no such thing as a Chinese New Year gift. Not in that Christmas or birthday sense of the word. These days, I consider the smallest gestures a gift. Like when someone offers to hold Mila for five minutes. Because they can tell that I am an overwhelmed new mother.
In other Chinese New Year news, I had a unique encounter at Golden House restaurant where this picture is taken. The proprietor is from 福州 (Fuzhou), and I bonded with her (in my crap Mandarin) over how my grandparents were also 福州人 (people from Fuzhou). Then I told her I was from Singapore, to which she said, “从新加坡来得？你的普通话为什么讲的这么好？” (Translation: You’re from Singapore? How come you speak so well?)
Any real Mandarin speaker who has had the painful pleasure of conversing with me would find this statement pretty amusing.
this sums up an average day in nassau, or why things never get done in this place
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Yesterday was typical of every day. I was told that the phone company was sending a technician to set up our landline. “What time?” I asked as a joke. They don’t do that. I waited from 8 am to 4 pm. Not a word from them. I was also waiting in vain for the plumber to fix a leak in the apartment upstairs. But I knew for sure that the plumber dude would be a no-show. He is consistent like that.
After counting down the hours with Mila, we went to Goodman’s Bay for a nice sunset walk on the beach.
(It is now 4:30 pm the following day. Still no technician. I have waited like this for electricians, plumbers, building supers, customs brokers, water delivery people etc. since moving here. Calling them only seems to make them dig their heels in. I hear they get offended because they don’t want to be rushed.)
now i can say i’ve nursed on a tennis court
Mila and I watch her pops play tennis with Royann. His first time getting all fit since her birth. I fondly remember giving him death glares when he asked if he could resume his weekly Saturday tennis sesh when Mila was two weeks old. It’s actually the first time I’ve seen him play ever. Not too shabby. Mila was curious for about 10 minutes, and then promptly fell asleep after snacking. She’s hard to impress.
getting out there again
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Goodbye zero social life! (No amount of doomsday warnings really prepared me for the isolation.) But hey, she is almost five months old and we’ve started mingling again. It was rough at first. Mila melted down at a baby shower with an inconsolable two-hour lung workout for our first foray into the world. This was two months ago.
We’ve been trying to get her out once a week. More for our sanity than for her to “get used to it”, as other parents advised. Since this New Year’s Eve, we’ve been doing ok in the social department. Now I can even take a baby-holding break to snap some photos. I almost feel like me again. I’ll have to balance this optimism with the sobering part about feeling like a zombie most days. But more of a functioning zombie than a snoozy one.
Oh yes, here are some pictures from Sunday lunch at the D’Alessandros.
