So my fruit diet wasn’t really working out. Although I managed to replace breakfasts and lunches with fruits, it gets really tough at night when my tummy growled ferociously from the lack of carbs. I don’t mind being hungry but I hate being very hungry. It makes me weak and I can’t think properly. I had to give in at end and it went on like this for 4 days. But hey! Guess what? I’ve permanently lost 1 kg! That’ll do for now.
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According to the Events widget on my blog’s sidebar, I will be leaving for Singapore in 6 days. I think ‘time’ purposely pass really slow just to make the wait unbearable. Each day seems forever to end but when it really ends, the next day seems even longer than yesterday. The worst part is when ‘time’ decides to fly when I’m there. Why can’t ‘time’ slow down and make that moment last a long while for me? Just that while when I’m with my family? Pfft!
She was pawing at the laptop monitor for my attention!
Nacou startled from her sleep
Nacou sleeping
Nacou still sleeping
Nacou preparing for sleep
Nacou curling herself up into a ball
Nacou is too picky for her own good. Each time I try feed her with some new brand of canned food, she would simply sniff her plate and walk away in utter disgust, as though I’m feeding her poison. And it’s not some cheap and smelly canned food that I’m feeding her, mind you. It’s those gourmet kind that are highly recommended by vets! Yet… she refuse to eat them. Especially when there are rabbit’s meat. How in the world does she knows that there are rabbit’s meat in there?!? So there goes another 2chf worth of cat food…
Strangely enough, she only prefers Purina Gourmet. That’s the salty kind of canned food. Totally bad for cat’s health. But there’s nothing else I can do to make her eat healthy. I guess a cat really takes after their owners.
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We went up to the chalet for a weekend...
...had dinner with family and good friends...
Nacou again, this time stretching as far as she can reach
Nacou sleeping on the sofa with us. She's really everywhere I go.
Fred thinks that Nacou is a ‘broken’ ragdoll because she’s hardly ever nice and docile to him. On the other hand though, she’s a total ragdoll when she’s with me during the day. Following me around like a puppy, demanding for attention, snuggling up close to me on the sofa… So is she really broken? I’d say that she’s just used to 1 person’s attention. What do you think?
Nacou doing what she does best
I don't know what this sign means but I think the cow looks kinda cute
Went up to the chalet again for another weekend...
I've never seen a fresh raspberry!
I think this photo is awesome because it's taken by my iPhone and it looks like some DSLR shot.
Magnificent view!
Mom asked me to take photos of the grapes
Nacou again. This time she's snuggling up close to me...
Nacou in one of her many sleeping poses...
Finally got my residency permit! Comparing the photo with my NRIC... Not so many changes huh?
We went to the Rheinfall last weekend...
So many fishes! And I stupidly asked Fred, "Who put them there chéri?"
Okay, so this time the iPhone camera can't do justice to the Rheinfall...
On our way home, we stopped by the canton Schaffhausen and I decided that I liked it better than Luzern.
Wanna take a peek of our humble home?
Entrance & Dining area
Entrance & Buddha console
Dining table & my favorite lights
MY kitchen!
Hallway
Living area
Living area
Terrace
Master bedroom
This entry will end right here because I have to collect the mail, take out the trash and go to the supermarket. Oh, I wanna make macaroni goreng tonight! Tchüs!
A day just before I left for South of France, a friend came to visit. Sabby has been to Zürich many times before but according to her, the only place that she has been is along the street where the hotel is. I couldn’t believe my ears until I came to visit. I won’t blame her for not going out when she was in town. The hotel is located in a quiet street! Almost in the residential area! And to be really honest, it’s a very boring area. I guess she thought, “That was all there is to see in Zürich…”
So being a good host, I took her out for a little tour around the city. I don’t know Zürich very well but I know enough to bring her to some nice spots that I love, and I’m pretty sure she’ll love it too. It was a bright and sunny day and she was really lucky. Just 2 days before she arrived, Zürich had the crappiest start of summer.
Photos courtesy of Sabby.
When you put 2 girls and a camera together, you get lotsa photos. :-P
Showing off my green fingernails
A terrible idea to put on those stockings. It was such a warm day!
I think I’ve mentioned in a previous post that there was a place in Zürich that I really love to frequent. All those times I never knew the name. Until a couple of days ago. My ignorance!
The Lindenhof is the oldest part of Zürich and it is also an original site of the Roman customs post. The broad space is quiet now, occupied mostly by chess-playing old-timers and gives a wonderful panorama over the rooftops on both sides of the river.
Who doesn't love swings?
After a full day of walking, we were starved when we reached Spaghetti Factory
We took a looooong walk to the lake...
…and I met the world’s BIGGEST asshole. I wanted to smoke but I misplaced my lighter. As we were walking I held on to my cigarette and waited for the next person who smoke to pass. I saw 2 guys walking towards us and when they were close enough, I asked one of them with a smile (politely, mind you), “Hi! Excuse me, do you have a light?”.
To my surprise that guy, looked at me as though I have lepers all over and he simply walked away. I was flabbergasted! What the hell did I do? No, I don’t think he was offended in any ways. Why would he? He was obviously a smoker too! He had a lighted cigarette in between his fingers. Maybe he had a bad day in the office? Maybe he’s just a rude homosexual who hates woman? Or maybe he plainly hates woman? I don’t know what’s his problem but he is definitely the biggest jerk I’ve ever met.
Mmmmm... Mövenpick's Double Crème de Gruyère & Meringue ice cream to end the day
Saw some guys jumping into the lake from a bridge on our way back...
...it turned out that they were actually trying to jump on a swan which was swimming in the lake (swan not in photo)
Zürich IS pretty as seen through another person's eyes
Don't get me wrong though, I still find it pretty except that it's not the same anymore when you live there.
Last weekend there was a massive festival in Zürich. The Züri Fäscht. The triannual event, began on Friday and ended on Sunday at midnight. Throughout the city centre and around the lake, there were colorful funfairs, free concerts, outdoor dance arenas and lotsa food and drink stall. It also featured impressive air shows, water shows and fireworks! Züri Fäscht is such a huge festival that almost the entire city shuts down.
Tons of tents selling Caipirinha were littered everywhere!
I only started to get anxious well after we bought the tokens... Too late!
I don't know what was I thinking to get myself on that ride...
It has to be the MOST scariest ride I’ve ever been on. It’s called the Transformer. Seriously, I love thrill rides. But not that one! It’s a badass! It looked harmless but I scared myself shitless! I was praying over and over! Basically everyone was seated in a circle. Then after making you wait for 15 whole minutes, the ride slowly lifted and turned clockwise gaining speed by the second. After about 30 seconds of spinning clockwise, it turned anti-clockwise and suddenly it went upside down and round and round and downside up and round and round again. Maybe my explanation wouldn’t do it justice. But it was seriously f*cking crazy! Never again!
We went over to a friend's place the next day before heading for the 2nd night at the Züri Fäscht
One of the many outdoor discotheques
I can’t wait for the next one! And that’s gonna be in 1,095 days. Pfft!
I’ve not been at my best lately and it seem to happen quite often these days. It’s mostly the usual bouts of missing my family (especially my mom), being alone and the changes that my body is going through. Since the big move, I’ve had 2 major breakdown. Poor Fred having to witness me at my lowest.
Life is fine. I couldn’t ask for more. I got everything to be contented for. A cosy roof over my head, a responsible husband who come straight home after work and take very good care of me. I’m not complaining. So what else is missing?
I guess knowing that I can’t fall back to the familiarity aches me.
My woes aside, remember me mentioning about my skin condition in a previous post? Well it’s not getting better. But it’s not getting bad either. It’s just there. Dark. Scarred. Like a sore thumb. To make matters worse for me, I got dry scalp. They’re so dry that I began to lose more hair than usual. I’ve used Head & Shoulders thinking that my problem is dandruff but it didn’t help. I’ve tried those gentle shampoos for babies, still the same. Then, I switch to another ridiculously pricey shampoo which is supposed to ‘Heal & Soothe’ but it didn’t heal. Yeah okay, it’s soothed but I’m still losing hair and clogging the plughole! So after months of misery, I’ve finally made an appointment with the dermatologist. Now I really can’t wait to get some professional treatment.
Looking at the brighter side, I have shed a kilo from the smoothie-for-lunch diet. Not bad huh? The Swiss immigration authorities have also extended the dateline for my permit application. Big relief for me since Singapore is taking too long to process the required documents. And that means… I can now look forward to South of France at the end of this month! Yay!
Speaking of Singapore, I can’t help thinking about the Swiss man charged in court for vandalism. Click here for more info. My heart goes out to the poor guy. There’s no way he can escape the Singapore law. The Michael Fay incident should’ve made him think twice about vandalising the train but I guess he simply didn’t know. On the other hand, I think that the graffiti wasn’t such a bad idea after all. It certainly gives some color to the boring looking trains in Singapore.
But of course, Singapore does not tolerate law-breakers. It’ll tarnish the squeaky clean image of the country! If Olivier Fricker or even Michael Fay had been let off with just a warning, it’ll be the start of a pandemonium of vandals. There will be graffitis everywhere! There will be no control! Anyway, vandalism is punishable by up to three years’ jail or a maximum fine of S$2,000, plus three to eight strokes of the cane in Singapore. Well, God bless you Olivier!
Wrapping things up, I’ll leave you with some photos from the last weekend…
Kapelbrücke, Luzern
I've finally been to Luzern. *smirking*
A really old building.
Another old building.
The old entrance of Luzern's train station.
We went to Aargau for karting on Sunday.
The 1st race result is out! I'm not on the list. :-P
Ça, c'est moi !
PS: I’ve learned 5 German words for the past 5 days! They’re just random words generated by my iPhone app.
I’ve finally received some updates about my residency application; the immigration requires a couple more documents from me. “Sure! No problem!”, I thought. But, as always, it’s never THAT simple. It turned out to be a whole lot more! So I gotta get in touch with the authorities back in Singapore for a particular certificate. BUT! In order to obtain that certificate, I need to produce a documentary proof that it’s for official use. “Sure! I send in the letter that I received then!”. Again, not so easy.
1) the letter I receive is in German
2) I wrote translation notes on that letter (which was a very bad idea)
To summarize, there will be lots of papers flying around and more errands to run. I think that it’ll probably take around 4 – 6 weeks before everything gets finalized. Pffft!
On a lighter note, we are going to South of France at the end of June and I’m really looking forward to that. So this whole process of immigration has to be done before then. Otherwise… Let’s just say I’ll be completely bummed.
I haven’t been uploading much pictures now, haven’t I? I haven’t even shared our wedding and honeymoon photos. I’ll get to that soon. Promise!
…what better way to start the week than washing all the dirty linens? Doing nothing of course. But I don’t have a cleaning lady nor a job (yet). So Mondays are my laundry day. To my dear readers from Singapore, I’d like to remind you that you are very lucky. Allow me to tell you why…
In Switzerland, it’s uncommon to have a washing machine at home. I know a person who owns one but most people here, they have none. Reason for so is the lack of space in the apartment. In Singapore, washing machines are normally in the kitchen or in the utitlity area. Here (if you have the space), they are in the bathroom. Most buildings here have a common laundry area in the basement. I’m not sure about other apartments, but where I live each tenant will then own something like a key to access the machines. Some apartments have a washing schedule where each tenants are allocated a specific day to do their laundry. Some have none.
(To Singaporean readers) Now can you imagine having to go elsewhere to do your laundry? What if you live on the 16th floor? That’s why you’re lucky!
We live on the 2nd floor (That’s the 3rd floor by Asian standards. Just in case if my non-Singaporean readers are wondering… In Singapore, the ground floor is the 1st floor.) and there is a lift in the building but I don’t use it when I’m alone. I got stuck in there for 15 WHOLE minutes once! So never again! I’ll only get in the lift when there’s someone with me. So imagine me going down 7 flights of stairs with a laundry basket multiply by 3 (for 3 loads of laundry) every Monday.
And that’s why you’re lucky!
PS: I’m not saying I’m unlucky and I’m not even complaining. I’m just sharing my experiences with you.
Until my next post, I’ll leave you with some outdated photos…
Real name Maxime Nouchy, born on February 23, 1979 in Créteil, France. At 6, he joined the Conservatoire and learnt guitar. At 15, he joined London’s Musician’s Institute, where he bacame the youngest guitar teacher. Playing bass, guitar and keyboard, Maxim has been noticed by Santi in 2001 and signed to Mercury. Collaborations followed… After his first album Maxim Nucci in 2006, he went on a tour. He has been Vanessa Paradis’ supporting act in Brussels and at Paris Européen and Ilene Barnes’ supporting act at Paris’ Elysée-Montmartre.
In 2008, it was the redemption, the turning or the revolution. Yodelice came in, a new artist. With his hat, he looks like characters that inspired Tom Waits & Bob Dylan. With his voice, we think about magnificent artists like Cat Stevens or Ray LaMontagne. Maxim went to a house in Spain to write songs. Ethnic/folk songs came to him, between JJ Cale & America. “Sincerity goes through words & English-speaking themes. There’s a more natural side in English, that’s not my native language. But it’s really my culture, Anglo-Saxon. I just wanted to record an album & be proud of it, to play it on stage.” The house was named La Casa Yodelice, he borrowed this name. This English-speaking singer, unknown by Maxim Nucci’s fans, became Yodelice. Maxim & Sébastien Grandgambe performed the songs in a guitar/cello version. To find the right words, Maxim worked with a Canadian actress, Marianne Groves. She understood stories in his melodies… Maxim called director Bastien Duval to build Yodelice’s universe. Bastien drew Maxim’s guitar with a skull. For his album Tree Of Life, Maxim recorded the rhythm section in Los Angeles, took the bass & hired drummer Abraham Laboriel Jr. Other musicians came to play brass & Sébastien Grandgambe came with his cello. Back in France, he played electric guitar & also used his skull guitar. He didn’t want to leave the stage, he loved it. Like a new birth, Yodelice was born.
source: lastfm
EDIT: Yodelice blow me away song after song during their performance last Saturday. Maxim is one truly talented singer with a unique style. I was expecting Milow (who was also featured in the festival) to take the stage but he was beyond comparison.
Nothing too interesting to be honest. Just lotsa errands to run and things to be done around the house. We’ve finally gotten rid of the boxes and we’re left to look for lights and other knick-knacks. All in all, the house is looking pretty good. I’m not gonna post any photos of the apartment just yet. But I will as soon as we have everything in place.
Oh, Spring is almost here! The weather has been superb. Bright blue skies and very sunny. I’ve ditched my thick jackets already.
The wedding is in a month from now. Cards all sent out. Dresses ready. Flights and hotel booked for our honeymoon. I’ve even tested the makeup look for the civil wedding. Wanna see?
Took me 2 whole hours to do that! That settled, left the makeup for the wedding reception. I will have to get someone to do my hair because I just don’t know what to do with it. It’s still short! And then I have to make the batik placemats for the tables. That’s still not done yet!
So I tweeted today that I wasn’t in the mood to blog and it’s true. I can’t pen down any thoughts right now. There’s a lot going on in my head. But generally, I’m fine. I’ll be back to write some more serious stuff soon. For now, I’ll leave you with some photos instead.
Our new car!
We found a northern & southern Indian restaurant near our place
We went for a little drive to Zug over the weekend...
The town of Zug, is the richest place in Switzerland, which makes it very rich indeed. The town’s location on the crystal-blue Zugersee is very attractive, framed by the high wooded plateau of the Zugerberg rising 600m to the east and the peak of Rigi on its southwest shores.
Today is Saturday and it’s no day to spend at home. So I decided to break out from my misery and explore the city a little bit. I went down to Bahnhofstrasse, enjoyed a cup of coffee by my lonesome and got myself lost in the medieval cobbled path streets of Zürich. I’m bad with the landmarks so I can’t tell you what I’ve seen but I hope you enjoy the photos anyway.
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