Durian and love

My mom knows I love durian, so she bought some and freeze them during the durian season. 

Now, in between meals, she would de freeze some and invite us to eat. My husband loves it too. I felt so loved.

From France to Malaysia

I was preparing gifts to bring back to Malaysia, and I went for the classic one.

My family loves ciders, especially those from Brittany. Added in some wines and champagnes. It would be so much easier if we can hand carry them. 

Butter cookies, candies, foie gras and sesame sticks

Fresh walnuts, saucissons and chorizo

Different type of chocolates. The seller told us that these will melt at 30°C, so we handed carried them in the planes.

Different type of cheese including 9 packs (16 pieces) + 1 family pack (32 pieces) raclette cheese.

Some Longchamp bags

Everything arrived safely in good conditions. I thought I was pushing too far, buying too much stuffs but at the end, they all fit in the suitcases without exceeding the weight limit.

A little big of privilege

When we pass through the Malaysia Immigration once we touched down in Malaysia, we usually use the little privilege we have : passing as Malaysians even though I'm the only Malaysian. I just need to tell the officer that they are my family, and the officer would nod his head, no question asked. There were several counters for Malaysians and it usually went very fast. Different story for the foreigners lines, it could take a lot of time if several big flights arrived at the same time. When we got back from Busan, there were huge lines for foreigners, and I just told the officer that my husband was with me and we probably saved one hour. Thanks Malaysian officers for granting us this little privilege.

I said it is a privilege because it was different story going through immigration in French airports. I was always asked to queue in the foreigner line. Even when my daughter was 18 month old, she was crying seeing mommy queuing on the other side, nobody took pity on us. Since France is one of the most visited countries in the world, the foreigners lines could be long. Once we asked to queue as a family in the EU line but it was refused. I don't remember what happened later, another officer told my husband that I was allowed to queue with them. Anyway, this time, the privilege was extended to France because both times we went through the EU line.

Malaysia is a country that practicing price discrimination between locals and foreigners in some tourist destinations. For example, to visit the Petronas Twin Tower, a Malaysian adult would pay RM30 whereas a foreigner adult would have to pay RM85. Hubby was quite annoyed by this practice, sometime he refused to go to a place just because he had to pay higher price than Malaysians.

When I book our trip to Perhentian, I was warned that we needed to pay a Marine preservation fee, and foreigners had to pay a higher price. Tourists were paying in Kuala Besut jeti before going on the boat. When it was my turn, the officer asked if the white man beside me was my "suami" (husband in Malay), I nodded, he gave me two tickets for adult and one for kid. He just applied the local price to hubby because he was my "suami". Thanks for giving this small privilege!

Perhentian Escape : Another form of burkini

In Perhentian, we met a lot of French Muslims. They probably feel comfortable having beach vacations here as no one is going to tell them wearing burkini is a form of provocation to the society.

In perhentian, not only the Muslims are covered up. The Chinese from China too. I didn't dare to take a photo of them directly. Just checked out the photo above, the woman on the top right wore a black swimsuit that covered her whole body. Her kid in the middle wore the same type of swimsuit. In fact, my mother told me that my nieces and nephews also wear them. The only difference is they don't cover up their hair. I'm not sure if French are going to protest if Chinese tourists wear these showing in any French beaches. I grew up wearing T-Shirt to the beach, as we didn't use sunscreen. It could be the natural protection from sunburn. So covering is really not a big deal in the water, unless you want to show your body.

Perhentian Escape : The sweet burden on the back

This day, we paid for a half day trip to Pulau Rawa. The girls took turn to ride on husband's back. Aelig has been going to swimming classes, so from time to time she was comfortable enough to stay in the water by herself, with life jacket on.

 We went to snorkelling in Perhentian 4 years ago. This was Aelig riding on hubby's back.

Aelig 4 years ago.

And he had Awena on his back, the same age as Aelig 4 years back.

Three of them snorkelling around while I waited on the boat.

We brought with us some bread to feed the fishes, but she decided to eat some of them.

I stayed most of the time on the boat as I didn't feel like doing snorkelling. At one point I saw that hubby wanted to go further and deeper, so I went into water and put Awena on my back. As a non swimmer I didn't know how to well control myself in the water so I bumped into some corals and stones and hurt my foot and ankle. 

There were other people on the same boat and by chatting, I realized they were from the same hometown as me. They both had a girlfriend from China who enjoyed Perhentian very much. They were jeolous hearing that we could took one month off work to travel. It is true, annual leaves are usually one or two weeks in most of the Asian countries.

The junior diver

So, a new diver is born.
We asked if she would be interested to go diving with daddy.
She said yes.
Hubby briefed her about the process, she was all excited about the idea.
Normally the diving courses were for people more than 8 years old. Hubby asked the diving center, they accepted her.

The dive was scheduled for around 3pm, but the coach was late so they only started around 4pm. At 7 and a half year old, she went for the first dive.

It lasted for about one hour, she was underwater for probably 15 minutes. It costed RM240 or around 49€. So much more expensive than hubby's (RM70 per dive with own equipment).

Next time they can go diving together. Seeing how at ease she was in the sea, we were glad that we insisted to send her to swimming classes.

Escape to Perhentian Island July 2017

When we were planning the trip to Malaysia, we included a one week escape somewhere that both of us agreed. I understood that diving was not included this time.

As the time drew closer, I can feel that hubby can't just let go the idea of diving in Malaysia, which he truly enjoyed the last couple of times he was there. It was a hard decision because it means a huge suitcase full of diving equipment, and it was going to be a family trip. Beside taking off my precious time with my family, I have to stay under hot sun getting tanned, which was one of the last things I want to do in my life.

Anyway, I started checking into different locations we could go, which offers diving activities and suitable for young kids. I asked my family if they know of any diving trip that hubby could join. So diving was in the agenda. The diving suitcase was the first to be ready. However, I was so reluctant that I left everything at the last minute, nothing was reserved before we left France.

Touched down in Malaysia, my sister found a diver that is willing to accompany hubby, but this suggestion was refused. He wanted a family trip. At the very late minute, we couldn't find any hotel that was still available through online booking. We went through a travel agent with skyrocketed price and booked the flight one day before departure.

I know this was going to be one of the most boring trips in my life. But I had to go. 5 days in Perhentian Islands, dream of many divers. My role was to be the nanny while my husband dives. He made every effort to be with us whenever he can, yet I still felt so bored, especially when kids were complaining and fighting nonstop.

When hubby went diving, we walked around the island. The kids were attracted by different kind of swing.

Sometimes we just stayed at the beach in front of our chalet. Kids playing at the beach while I read. I finished 4 books I bought by the third day.

Hubby would sacrify a diving session and come with us from time to time. We would do trekking to the other side of the island. We bought two loafs of bread for fish feeding.

The island is magnifique in view. I used to enjoy snorkelling trips when I was 20+++. Not anymore because with sunbath freckles appear, and having two kids mean you have to take care of them day and night.

Dining at odd hours

In general, French are taught to eat at the same time everyday, and avoid to snack in between time.

My kids were having a 4 meals schedule since baby:

8am - Breakfast

12am - Lunch

4pm - Snack

8pm - Dinner

Restaurants in our areas do not open until 12pm for lunch and 7pm for dinner. Between 3pm to 7pm, it would be difficult to find a place to dine except fastfood.

In Malaysia, it is a totally different story. We dine whenever we want. Check these out.

Dinner at 5pm, savouring satay in Kajang. Followed by supper at 11pm.

Dim sum at 11am.

Fried kueh teoh at 4pm.

I'm not sure if eating at all hours are healthy. We just want to be relax for a month.

Yes, we have touched town in Malaysia since several days ago.

A little girl in Malaysia : 2016's trip snapshots

It has been more than a month since we came back from Malaysia.
The girls would still look at the photos and videos from the trip, one night Awena even had a dream about my family, she kept yelling 'ah ku ah ku ah ku" (ah ku in Hokkien refers to her ancle (my brother)).

Here are some of the snapshots / highlights of Aelig's trip:
1. Two mothers
One day in the car, Aelig told us that she would like to go back to France quickly. We wanted to know what displeased her in Malaysia. Her reply :"but I have two mothers in Malaysia! Er yi (my second sister) looks so much like you that I couldn't distingush you from her! It is better that we go back to France, then I would only have one mother." She said it in such a serious way that all of us laughed.

2. The French speaking boy
During Chinese New Year, we would go to relatives' houses everyday. We met a lot of people but none of them speak French. One day we met a young boy, he was so bored as he was the only kid there, so he was happy when we arrived with our daughters. He quickly approached Aelig for conversation and wanted to share a game in the tablet with her. He spoke English to Aelig, but she didn't understand. I quickly explained to the boy that Aelig only speaks Mandarin and French. I knew he didn't speak Mandarin so I asked if he speaks French. He nodded, to my surprise. They started to play together with their own language because the fact was he didn't speak French. At one point, the boy's mother came to me saying that her son was asking password for the tablet, but it was upon Aelig's request. As soon as the tablet was unlocked, he handed it to Aelig. I don't know how they communicated, but she got what she wanted (she would glue to any cellphone/tablette/computer as soon as she gets a chance).

3. Mutton on the sky lantern
The sky lantern (KongMing Lantern) has become a popular tradition during the Chinese New Year in Malaysia. People would write their wishes on it then let the lantern rises into the sky. We asked Aelig to write something on it and she wrote "mouton", mutton in French. She was happy to see her "mouton" flying.

4. Fireworks
Kids are crazy about fireworks and firecrackers during Chinese New Year. My sister bought Aelig some and she finished all of them. She didn't remember anything about fireworks from her last trips, but I think she would remember it from now on.

5. karaoke
Karaoke is still big in Malaysia. We went to a company dinner, I had the chance to introduce karaoke to the little girl. She loved it and had asked me to replay songs that she knew.

6. The monkey king
It is the Monkey year, so she got introduced to the charactors in "The Journey to the West".

After this trip, back to France, there were several things worth to jot down:

1. Angpow to her classmates
We decided to have a project together : giving angpow to her classmates with a card and a candy instead of money. I wrote down their name and "Happy Monkey Year" in French and in Mandarin. When I brought the angpows to her school, her classmates were elated that they would have their names written in Mandarin. They all laughed and giggled when I told them it is the Monkey year. Her teacher later told me to teach her where is Malaysia on a map so that she could point it to her classmates.

2. A card to her classmates
We also sent a Chinese New Year card to her class from Malaysia. It took 4 weeks to arrive, we thought it was lost. Her message was "Hello my fellow classmates, I wish you all a very Happy Monkey New Year. It is very very hot in Malaysia."

3. New cloth everyday
It is the Chinese tradition to wear new cloth for the first few days of Chinese New Year. She got some from her grandma and we bought her some. Now back to France, she wants to continue the tradition, but we are in winter so no way she is going to wear summer dresses. I insisted that she wears at least a longsleeve suit. It doesn't seem to bother her though, she has been wearing her Malaysian clothes to school even though it was 0° outdoor.

4. Can't switched back to French
At the first few weeks after we are back to France, she complained that she would speak Mandarin to her classmates and she couldn't control it. She has difficulty switching back to French. I told her that's normal because I'm experiencing the same things.

5. Drawing in her activity book
This is what she drew in her activity book about her trip to Malaysia. On the left is about the lion dance and fireworks. On the right is a pond situated close to sister's house where we stayed. In Malaysia due to the hot weather most of the times we stayed indoor, so she was happy she got to go to the playground and ran around the pond.

Overall it was a nice trip to the little girl. As for her younger sister, she was sick the first few days after we arrived. She was sticky to me most of the time so it was very hard for me to relax. She was finally comfortable with my family at the last few days. The day before we headed back, I finally got a chance to go out with hubby without the kids, we shopped for what we wanted to bring home, and ate plenty of food in a peaceful environment. We didn't have to worry about diapers, naps, yelling, what kind of food to order for them. It was so nice.

hot and cold

We went to this hot spring place for swimming.

And we heard that Nantes was snowing.

I hope adjusting back to the cold life in Nantes would be easier this time.

The kids love roti, but not the sauces

Growing up in France, my kids are more exposed to French food than Malaysian's, but they can accept rice, roti canai (frozen one in France), not much of rice porridge though.

So we discover food they love and food they just won't touch during this trip to Malaysia.

Last several trips, Aelig loved roti canai, bah kut teh (pork herbal soup), chicken rice, but she refused anything spicy.

The first trip for Awena, my BIL ordered a plate of cheese roti, she loved it. She asked for cheese everyday at home in France, so that is not a surprise for us.

They both love roti cheese.

Awena dipped her roti into the red chili sauce, she didn't cry, but just asking for water. I have a feeling that she could accept spicy food more than her sister.

We went for Dim Sum, but Aelig only ate dumplings, Awena didn't want to try any. At the end we ordered fried rice for them.

Hubby loved Chay Kueh Tiao and Asam Laksa, but none of the girls tried them.

Dishes during reunion lunch. Aelig didn't eat much, I added some pork sauce in her rice but she said it was spicy. It was only the ginger! Awena ate a lot of meat roll.

I brought the raclette set to my sister,  she invited her friends over to try. Aelig enjoyed it a lot. My sister also prepared steamboat for those who didn't want to eat cheese, Awena discovered fish balls, yam...

Overall, Aelig doesn't eat much in Malaysia, well she is not a big eater anyway in France. As for Awena, she discovers, she tries, she takes whatever that pleases her, including all the Chinese New Year biscuits.

Driving in Malaysia : Can't do this anymore

Yes we are back to Malaysia for the coming Chinese New Year celebrations. I haven't been driving in Malaysia for a while, since hubby knows how to drive like Malaysians now. I told myself that I should take up the courage again, so that I could go anywhere whenever I want, but I just can't do this anymore.

 

There are too many cars on the roads. We passed through a roundabout with heavy traffics and I don't think I would ever be able to cross. Cars and motocycles drove at extremely high speed, when there are two lanes, you will have three lanes of car queuing. Photo shows a blue car joining the roundabout through the right lane (in Malaysia we drive on the left lane).

Heavy traffics everywhere especially when we are approaching Chinese New Year.

Here are what really scare me:
1. Pedestriens crossing everywhere, as sometimes they have no choice, there is definitely lack of zebra zones for them
2. Motocyclists sneaking through wherever they can, you have to pay extra attention for what is around you.
3. When I drive in Nantes, there is always several seconds for me to join the main roads as cars waiting for lights to turn green. But here, there is no time, seconds before the light turns green, the motocyclists already waiting at the front would just pass through. As soon as the light turns green, the remaining who did not cross on red light would drive at high speed. So there is really no time to merge!
4. Whenever there is enough space, cars form an extra lane no matter how many lanes are meant for. In the roundabouts, sometimes there are simply no lanes, I won't have know which lane to merge into.

I guess this is part of reverse culture shock! I drove in Malaysia since I was 17 until I went overseas, and I didn't notice all these. French peopld o respect the traffic rules after all!

Who don't go for vacation?

I watched on TV that around 40% of French do not go for vacation this year. Tied budget is the main cause for this phenomena. A sociologist calls it as injustice between the poor and the rich.

This is a topic that pops up on TV every summer. How many percent of the population didn't go for vacation, how much on average they spend on their holidays, where are the hottest destinations... Well, a topic that I don't see in Malaysia.

The first time I heard about this I thought this was not a big deal. Stay at home during school holidays, I did it my whole life. The more I'm in France, the more I see it : vacation is in French's blood. It is a right, not a privilege. Not going for vacation is a big deal, as everyone around you is going. To the beach, to the mountain, to the South (South of France, Italy, Spain, anywhere with a better guarantee of sunshine), to a foreign country.

So now we are talking about injustice to people not able to join the wagon.
"Too bad for them", that was what I thought the first year I heard about this.
"If they want to go for vacation, they need to work for it." My thought on second year.
"That's ridiculous, how many countries in the world can have 60% of the population going on vacation?" My take the year after.
"That's too much, there are asking for donations so that kids can go for vacation!" I cried out to hubby.

And then I have Aelig.
My perspective has since changed.
I would like to see every little angel in this world going for vacation with their love one.
I'm willing to donate my "cheques vacances" to anyone who need it.
I'm grateful that my family gets to go every year.

Aelig on vacation in Perhentian Island.

Her vacation continues in France...

Bonnes vacances everyone!

Where is great-grandma?

Sometimes there are things I don't know how to explain to Aelig.

We were in Malaysia, and my mother informed me one day that she was going to be busy as it was my grandmother's death anniversary (做忌). As a Chinese custom, my mother has to hold a memorial service for the ancestors from my father's side. 

The day came, she woke up super early to prepare foods for praying. My grandmother was represented in a wood frame (神祖牌位) with her name written on. I told Aelig that we were going to pray for my grandmother, who is her great-grandma. She asked me where is great-grandma? I showed her the wood frame, she was very confused. 

I helped my father laying out a praying table and presented foods my mother just cooked. My father then lid some incense and passed them to me. I was a bit confused as he didn't give any to Aelig. Was it because she is not considered a descendant from his family? Anyway, I explained to Aelig that I was inviting my grand-parents for lunch. Apparently during the death anniversary the death spouse is invited too. Aelig looked around, it seemed that she was trying to spot my grandparents, but in vain.

 After a while, my father threw two half-moon shape woods (擲筊) to communicate with my grandparents. If one wood is facing up and one facing down, it means that they are well eaten. It was the case at first try, the ceremony is considered conclude and the family can start eating. 

"Where is great-grandma?" After I told her that great-grandma has eaten and has gone, she posted the question with her curious eyes. I don't know how to explain that it was in a form of spirit and normally we won't be able to see them. Anyway, after some discussions with my family, we all think that this is just a tradition that we continue. It is served as a day we remember a family member. After all, our tradition believes in incarnation, my grandparents should have already reborn since long time ago, there is no way they could turn up for lunch lol.

One of the praying foods : fried glass noodles.

The main dish was popiah, a popular dish among the Hokkien. It was mainly made of jicama, a kind of vegetables that I have never seen in any Asian stores in France.

Side ingredients that go with the popiah.

The concept is similar to Fajitas (Mexican dish), but it has less meat and less oily.

I hope grandma enjoyed the lunch. I did!