Phuket

Besides redecorating the house and trying to impress the hubby by cooking –which to be honest I have done only once so far because one Sunday morning I realized that I already have the ring around my finger - we started travelling as well. For Chinese New Year we visited Phuket. Our hotel was located on a steep hill which was part of the Tsunami evacuation area 6 years ago. So if history repeated itself, we would have been safe although I am not sure if I would have made it back to the hotel on time in case I saw a giant wave approaching the beach where I was trying to look like Brooke Shield in the Blue Lagoon but with better trimmed eyebrows whilst sipping fresh coconut water. The hill was too steep and I had way too many pancakes, waffles, banana cakes and other undefined Asian goodies for breakfast. So in case I would be lying at the beach if a tsunami was coming our way it was impossible for me to reach the top of the hill before the wave hit the shoreline. Instead of risking my life by getting a tan at the beach, I could have easily stayed inside the hotel. We paid for a standard room and we got the Kata suite; 3 terraces facing hills, sea and city, giant bath tub with sunset view and flat screen television, second flat screen television in living room, and a bathroom and bed to get lost in. Since 1 out of 2 tourists in Phuket is either Danish or Swedish, I do think they gave us the suite because we were being friendly. Unlike the other people we were polite and returned their smile. So I bet the staff agreed to give the suite to the first couple that entered and treated them nicely and luckily they got to see me first as I got out of the cab before Anders did.

Apart from getting a tan and doing somersaults in the tub we explored the surroundings on a moped and visited Phi phi Island - I always thought the island was named after the discoverer’s favorite poodle named Fifi nonetheless it was confirmed by locals that it is pronounced ‘pee pee’ Island.- Although we were surrounded by clear turquoise water, white sandy beaches and monkeys, it rather felt like a tourist trap as we were cramped on an island with hordes of tourists who all wanted to have a glimpse of the beach which might have absorbed a few drops of Leo’s sweat when the movie “The Beach” was shot in Maya Bay. Considering I would have shown more interest if Robert Pattinson had been walking around there, I took a bunch of pictures of cute furry butt monkeys.

















Anders couldn´t believe his eyes when he saw the invoice and the size of the room. Disbelief, recalculating the bill, acceptance followed by sheer happiness,..











Room with a view

Grass is greener on the other side

I forgot to add the interesting part about the new carpet we bought. We went to the local mall behind the corner where there is a carpet store on the upper floor. We were trying to negotiate a decent price when all the sudden the salesman tried to convince us by saying “the carpet is made in Europe”. “Belgian quality,” he whispered. “I’m sorry. Where is it from?” as there was still the possibility we misheard the fraudulent carpet vendor saying Belgian instead of Persian. “Carpet is made in Belgium. Very good quality”. We barely made it to the door muttering that we needed to think about his bargain.

We were convinced it was a scam and decided to ask for a second opinion in a less local environment. So we went to a furniture mall where visitors look like they are familiar with European quality and Ikea, but we were told again that the rugs were Belgian. Since they were cheaper in the first shop we visited, we had to go back and begged for the discount we were given the first time.

In Belgium I would only settle for an oriental rug but in Singapore I gladly rest my feet on Belgian cotton. So anyone in Europe who thinks that oriental rugs are of high quality might want to rethink the assumption as the grass is always greener on the other side.

feeling snug as a bug in "another" rug

Anders chose a furnished apartment. Quite nice, I have to say except for the furnished part. Imagine Hugh Hefner was asked to be a special guest decorator in Debbie Travis home decorating show to fundraise a charity project to help disabled and retired bunnies. I am sure the final result would somewhat look like our apartment; black crystal chandeliers, a leopard carpet, black fur chairs and a picture of Marilyn Monroe. The only thing that kept me from screaming "O MY GOD" as if hugh and debbie took me by surprise by jumping from behind the kitchen door was the missing rotating bed. Although it sounds surreal because
a. nobody wants to pay for retired bunnies
b. let alone, watch Debbie Travis on television these days
we still have to deal with our landlord's shameful home decorating plan.

There is no way we can blame Debbie or Hugh for it and send them back the dead squirrel, called a rug, that is shedding its fur on the white marble floor. We can only use it as an excuse for deliberately forgetting our new years resolution of spending less and saving more: we needed to buy the comfortable L-shaped couch, the feathery misty grey carpet, the amplifier and home theater system,.. to make us feel more at home.
Or we could just blame Anders, his bad taste home decorating skills and for not bringing a camera with him when he went house hunting.

Lazy Sunday

Anders´boxes arrived which was an excellent opportunity to clean up the apartment. I put on the apron and felt perfectly at ease in my new role as a newly wedded wife to the extent of being eager to impress my newly wedded husband. I was told hat love goes through the stomach and decided to make my first soup ever. Since he actually liked my snack and even loved me a bit more, I became too enthusiastic. I should have held my horses before I even dared to compare myself with the full-figured Nigella who can make a 3 course meal without blinking. But I didn´t and made Papayasoufflé. It was supposed to be Mangosoufflé but unfortunately we couldn´t find any Mango that day. Like Nigella I became adventurous and took a Papaya instead. Call it bluff because it was totally out of my league. As soon as I took the cups out of the oven, their puffiness disappeared with a "puff" which was the sound of their last breath. 11 of the soufflés vanished in less than 11 seconds. Although I expected to see a hint of disappointment in his eyes, Anders told me I had been too dauntless to make a dish only Nigella would be able to make. So I kissed him and started loving him a bit more than I did yesterday.

New year's resolutions

1. Inform people about my well-being in Singapore
2. update facebook more often
3. improve my cooking skills
4. Buy less and save more in case we ever want to buy a car, a house, a pony, a baby or a dog with a pedigree
5. Be less competitive in my relationship and start admitting he is a better WII player.
6. Understand the true nature of Asian Beauty and when the secret of straight hair in a humid climate has been revealed to me, teach it to the poodle that died on my head.